Pessimists have something to cheer about!
Older people blighted by pessimism and fear for the future are more likely to live longer and healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead, according to scientists.
"Our findings revealed that being overly optimistic in predicting a better future was associated with a greater risk of disability and death within the following decade," said lead study author Frieder R Lang of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany.
"Pessimism about the future may encourage people to live more carefully, taking health and safety precautions," said Lang in the study published by the American Psychological Association.
Lang and colleagues examined data collected from 1993 to 2003 for the national German Socio-Economic Panel, an annual survey of private households consisting of approximately 40,000 people 18 to 96 years old.
The researchers divided the data according to age groups: 18 to 39 years old, 40 to 64 years old and 65 years old and above. Through mostly in-person interviews, respondents were asked to rate how satisfied they were with their lives and how satisfied they thought they would be in five years.
Five years after the first interview, 43 per cent of the oldest group had underestimated their future life satisfaction, 25 per cent had predicted accurately and 32 per cent had overestimated, according to the study.
Based on the average level of change in life satisfaction over time for this group, each increase in overestimating future life satisfaction was related to a 9.5 per cent increase in reporting disabilities and a 10 per cent increased risk of death, the analysis revealed.
Because a darker outlook on the future is often more realistic, older adults' predictions of their future satisfaction may be more accurate, according to the study.
In contrast, the youngest group had the sunniest outlook while the middle-aged adults made the most accurate predictions, but became more pessimistic over time.
"Unexpectedly, we also found that stable and good health and income were associated with expecting a greater decline compared with those in poor health or with low incomes.
"Moreover, we found that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability," Lang said in the study published in the journal Psychology and Aging.
"These findings shed new light on how our perspectives can either help or hinder us in taking actions that can help improve our chances of a long healthy life," he said.
