Have you ever heard the saying that age is a state of mind? Well, researchers
are working on proving that. Two studies suggest that having a positive
attitude leads to a healthier, higher quality of life.
In separate projects, different researchers discovered a scientific link
between optimism and mental and physical health in older people.
Researchers suggest that the mind determines how quickly and dramatically
people age. This is because good emotions can alter chemical balances. Over
a seven-year period, investigators measured weight loss, exhaustion, walking
speed and grip strength of about 1,500 older Mexican-Americans who were
in good physical health at the start of the study. Results showed that those
with more positive outlooks were significantly less likely to become frail.
However, they note more research needs to be done to confirm this link.
In the second study, a research team found a link between optimism and
memory performance in older people, even when compared to other age groups.
About 153 subjects of varying ages were asked to take part in memory tests
after being exposed to positive and negative words about aging. When prefaced
with negative stereotypes, older participants had much lower scores on the
tests than when primed with affirming stereotypes.
Researchers conclude that if society had a better view of the aging population,
then older people would be less likely to fulfill negative stereotypes.
BBC News September 12, 2004
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