If you see that glass as being half-full, does that mean you might live longer? According to new research from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society this might just be so. They surveyed nearly 160,000 women and found a correlation between high levels of optimism and longevity.

These correlations were increased at the highest and lowest levels - meaning that the longest living participants were even more highly associated with optimism while shorter lifespans were associated with pessimism. Naturally, these findings were modified by lifestyle factors (smoking, diet, etc.) but still had a significant effect.

This study is unusual to many others as it looked exclusively at women from a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Many studies we see skew to younger populations (usually university aged and educated) and tend to be overwhelmingly white.

We will be using this study to ask questions about optimism itself.

- Is it something innate or something that can be learned?

- If the effect of optimism is so strong, could there be interventions to enhance it, like we've done with smoking?

- How much does environment, culture, family, and contexts like economy and class affect optimism?

Do join us this Thursday for this fascinating conversation.

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Every week on the Stillpoint community we choose a relevant topic to discuss together. It may be a recently released research paper, or a contemporary event or issue that we try to understand better through the lens of psychology. Each week is different and provides an opportunity for our community to come together and discuss our shared passion - psychology in the 21st century.

This discussion is facilitated by psychotherapist Dr. Aaron Balick who will kick off the conversation by summarising the weekly topic to be discussed.

Stillpoint Members can access this event for free via the Stillpoint Community page. Please, find here details about it and join us (we offer a two-week free trial): https://stillpoint.org/index/membership

About the facilitator

Aaron Balick, PhD, is an author, media consultant, and director of Stillpoint. As both an academic and psychotherapist with more than 20 years of clinical experience, Aaron is committed to sharing psychological ideas widely and in ways that people can directly apply to their lives.

Learn more about Aaron´ here: https://aaronbalick.com

Format

DATE: Every Thursday

TIMES: 1:30pm - 2:15pm UK Time

After we hear a short presentation on the topic, we will open the floor for the discussion.

This online event is open to everyone interested in the topic. No background knowledge in psychology is required. These sessions run between 45 minutes and 1 hour.

How to join

Stillpoint Explorer and Professional Members: free (join us at https://stillpoint.org/index/membership)

General Admission: 5 GBP (plus any ticket fees)

We reserve a limited amount of tickets at a concessional rate for those unable to meet the full cost. Please email us at hello@stillpoint.org if this applies to you.

After you sign up, you will receive an order confirmation, which is your ticket for the film and the panel.