![]() One of my very favorite examples is the graph showing the cost of solar panels. It’s also true that the world is on course to miss the 1.5 C target of warming, agreed at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. The Horn of Africa has seen its worst drought in 40 years, and has more than 4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. And 39% said they were worried about having children, given the state of the world they would be born into.Ĭlimate change is already driving droughts and famines in parts of Africa, floods last year in Pakistan, as well as fast-changing weather patterns in the West. Around half said they felt “sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty” and that it negatively affected their daily life. A 2021 survey of 10,000 young people, aged 16 to 25, found that 84% were at least somewhat worried. Global research shows even starker figures. Nearly three-fifths of Americans under 35 say climate change is a direct threat to them, and almost half say they worry a great deal about it, according to a recent Gallup poll. “This could be related to lifestyle - greater physical activity, better diet, less smoking – though optimism also has biological correlates, such as lower systemic inflammation, that may be health protective.Climate change is one of the world’s most pressing problems, and no one is more worried about it than the young. “There is evidence that greater optimism and less pessimism is linked with reduced risk of future ill-health. ![]() What the findings mean for wellbeing is difficult to say though, he added. “If you have an optimistic disposition, it seems quite plausible that you won’t regard relatively trivial occurrences in your life as stressful,” he said. Or they may simply be less likely to view daily incidents as stresses. They may be easier to get on with than pessimists and so run into conflict less often, for example. Prof Andrew Steptoe, head of behavioural science and health at UCL, who was not involved in the study, said optimists may genuinely lead more hassle-free existences than pessimists. It may involve acknowledging our strengths, past examples of success, and areas over which we have control, so that we can arrive at a more positive and confident outlook,” she added. “A more optimistic thought does not mean being Pollyanna-ish or ignoring risks, which is a common misconception about optimism. ![]() It will be useful to catch ourselves doing that, and then try to come up with different ways of approaching the situation. “Oftentimes our automatic reaction involves a negative evaluation, or a worst-case scenario. “One way to become more optimistic is to develop an awareness of how we internally react to or judge a situation,” she said. Levels of optimism or pessimism tend to be fairly stable across people’s lives, but Lee believes there are ways to foster a more rosy outlook for those who want to. “Less is known about age differences in the role of optimism in health,” she added. “That suggested to us that perhaps more optimistic men either limited their exposure to stressful situations, or that they were less likely to perceive or label situations as stressful.”Īlthough the study published in the Journals of Gerontology focused on older men, Lee said she expected the findings to hold for older women too. “We found that more optimistic men reported having fewer daily stressors, which partially explained their lower levels of negative mood,” Lee said. The researchers suspected that the optimists might bounce back more swiftly than pessimists, and return to a good mood faster following a stressful event. Surveys in the 1980s and 90s assessed the men’s levels of optimism.īetween 20, they completed up to three eight-day-long diary entries that recorded their mood and any stressful situations they encountered. Lee and her colleagues analysed information provided by 233 men who were at least 21 years old when they enrolled in the US Veterans Affairs Normative Ageing Study between 19. “Given prior work linking optimism to longevity, healthy ageing, and lower risks of major diseases, it seemed like a logical next step to study whether optimism might protect against the effects of stress among older adults,” said Dr Lewina Lee, a clinical psychologist at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University. Previous studies have found evidence that optimists live longer and healthier lives, but researchers do not fully understand why having a glass-half-full attitude might contribute to healthy ageing.
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