It Pays to Be an Optimist 做個樂觀主義者

Research shows that whether a person is an optimist or a pessimist is related to their quality of life, including their physical health. The subjects involved first took personality tests in the 1960′s and then thirty years later they completed a follow-up self-assessment of their health status. Researchers found that not only did the optimists from the 1960′s report better physical and mental functioning thirty years later, but that optimists also lived longer on average than pessimists.
It’s hardly clear that there is a causal relationship between optimism and health; it could be that they are related to the same underlying gene complex or set of mechanisms. Still, it sure is tempting to surmise that it’s partly a positive attitude that keeps people alive for so long. It may actually be possible that a lot of what my parents have been telling me for years is true. If you think positively, good things may happen to you. If you think negatively, then you may doom yourself.

研究表明，不管一個人是樂觀還是悲觀，都他的生活質量息息相關，包括身體健康。這個主題首次在二十世紀六十年代提出并做了人格測試，三十年后他們后續完成了健康狀況的自我評價。研究人員發現60年代的樂觀主義者不僅身心比30年后的人更健康，而且樂觀主義者比悲觀主義者更長壽。
很難理清樂觀與健康之間的因果關系，也許是因為它們與相同的潛在基因或是一套機制有關。不過，可以肯定的是，一定程度上的積極心態能讓人長壽。實際上可能多年來我父母告訴我的許多事情都是真的。如果你積極地看待這個世界，好的事情就可能發生在你身上。如果你總是消極地看待一切，那樣只會讓你自己更郁悶。