The Science of Optimism

A cheery outlook on life may be good for your heart. One study evaluated patients who were to undergo a coronary bypass surgery. Each patient was given a psychological evaluation before the procedure to measure optimism, depression, neuroticism, and self-esteem. The study authors tracked the patients for six months after the surgery. They discovered that the patients who had optimistic traits were only half as likely as pessimists to require re-hospitalization. Pessimists were also three times more likely than optimists to have heart attacks or require further heart operations. A positive outlook might also reduces the risk of developing hypertension. Another study examined the mental outlook of over 600 Finnish men and evaluated risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Over four years, the pessimists in this study were three times more likely to develop hypertension than the optimists, in spite of any other risk factors, such as poor diet or smoking.