According to researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, optimism is connected to a longer lifespan. Hayami Koga, lead author of this study, explains that “Although optimism itself may be affected by social structural factors, such as race and ethnicity, our research suggests that the benefits of optimism may hold across diverse groups… A lot of previous work has focused on deficits or risk factors that increase the risks for diseases and premature death. Our findings suggest that there’s value to focusing on positive psychological factors, like optimism, as possible new ways of promoting longevity and healthy aging across diverse groups.” The study found that the 25% of participants that were most optimistic had a 5.4% longer lifespan and a “10% greater likelihood of living beyond 90 years than the 25% who were the least optimistic.”
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/optimism-longevity-women/