With 18 events across the country, the
Optimism Walk series brings thousands of participants together across the country to support the association's mission to help every person impacted by Parkinson's live life to the fullest.
She and her colleagues defined
optimism as the "general expectation that good things will happen or the belief that the future will be favorable because one can control important outcomes."
The women were aged between 58 and 86 when they completed an
optimism assessment in 2004, and their mortality status was tracked through to 2014.
However, the researchers are unclear on how exactly
optimism helps people live longer.
"
Optimism has the potential to extend the human lifespan"
The men's age range was 41-90 when they completed an
optimism assessment in 1986, and their mortality status was tracked through to 2016.
Optimism was also powerful predictor of longevity regardless of a person's habits when it came to tobacco and alcohol use, exercise, eating well or getting routine medical care.
Participants' levels of
optimism were measured using a 10-item survey, which asked them to rate on a five-point scale how much they agreed with positive statements such as "I'm always optimistic about my future" and with negatively worded sentences such as "I hardly expect things to go my way."
Hernandez and her co-authors found that with each standard deviation increase - the typical distance across data points - in participants'
optimism score they had 78 per cent higher odds of reporting very good sleep quality.
In addition, according to the financial holding firm's poll, an economic
optimism index for the next six months also rose from minus 16.6 in May to minus 7.0 in June.
The latest personal
optimism net figure was five points down from the 'excellent' +47 net rating (50 percent optimistic, 4 percent pessimistic) in March, which was also the highest score posted during the Duterte administration.
2011) and may mediate the effect of
optimism on social creativity.