5 ISSN 1745-509X 10.2217/AHE.11.81 © 2012 Future Medicine Ltd Aging Health (2012) 8 (1), 5–8 •฀ Among฀individuals฀who฀completed฀the฀Min- nesota฀ Multiphasic฀ Personality฀ Inventory฀ (MMPI),฀from฀which฀optimism฀can฀be฀scored,฀ optimism฀predicted฀subsequent฀health฀out- comes,฀including฀self-rated฀health฀30฀years฀ later฀and฀all-cause฀mortality฀over฀a฀40฀year฀ period฀[10,11] ; •฀ In฀the฀18฀months฀following฀a฀major฀life฀event,฀ such฀as฀death฀or฀severe฀illness฀within฀the฀fam- ily,฀optimism฀predicted฀fewer฀sick฀days฀taken฀ by฀employees฀[12] ; •฀ Among฀asymptomatic฀men฀with฀HIV,฀opti- mism฀ slowed฀ the฀ onset฀ of฀ AIDS฀ over฀ an฀ 18-month฀follow-up฀[13,14] ; •฀ Optimism฀predicted฀indices฀of฀healthy฀aging฀ in฀ a฀ community฀ sample฀ of฀ adults฀ aged฀ 65–80฀years,฀independently฀of฀sociodemo- graphic฀characteristics,฀clinical฀conditions฀ and฀body฀mass฀[15] ; •฀ Over฀an฀8-year฀follow-up,฀optimism฀predicted฀ better฀pulmonary฀function฀among฀older฀men,฀ even฀when฀smoking฀was฀controlled฀[16] ; •฀ In฀ a฀ longitudinal฀ study฀ of฀ older฀ men฀ and฀ women,฀optimism฀predicted฀not฀only฀better฀ health,฀but฀also฀lower฀levels฀of฀pain฀[17] ; •฀ Among฀the฀elderly,฀optimism฀predicted฀fewer฀ detrimental฀health฀effects฀from฀falling฀[18] ; •฀ Among฀young฀adults,฀optimistic฀perceptions฀ of฀old฀age฀predicted฀whether฀they฀would฀sur - vive฀to฀become฀older฀adults,฀even฀when฀the฀ usual฀ risk฀ factors฀ for฀ poor฀ heath฀ were฀ controlled฀[19–21] . Our฀own฀research฀group฀recently฀reported฀a฀ study฀of฀a฀large฀nationally฀representative฀sample฀ of฀older฀adults฀(aged฀50฀years฀and฀older)฀in฀the฀ USA฀showing฀that฀over฀a฀2-year฀period,฀opti- mism฀predicted฀a฀lower฀likelihood฀of฀stroke,฀even฀ after฀controlling฀for฀chronic฀illnesses,฀self-rated฀ health฀and฀relevant฀sociodemographic,฀biological฀ and฀psychological฀factors฀[22] .฀For฀the฀optimism฀ Since฀its฀introduction฀to฀common฀parlance฀in฀ Voltaire’s฀18th฀century฀novel฀Candide฀[1]฀to฀the฀ present฀day,฀optimism฀has฀been฀viewed฀skepti- cally.฀Much฀of฀this฀skepticism฀has฀been฀due฀to฀a฀ misunderstanding.฀Optimism฀is฀sometimes฀seen฀ as฀pollyannaism,฀a฀naively฀rosy฀view฀of฀the฀world฀ coupled฀with฀a฀‘don’t฀worry,฀be฀happy’฀attitude.฀ However,฀optimism฀the฀way฀researchers฀study฀ it฀encompasses฀two฀related฀psychological฀traits:฀ a฀disposition฀to฀perceive฀and฀emphasize฀what฀ is฀positive฀about฀ongoing฀experience,฀and฀an฀ expectation฀that฀the฀future฀will฀entail฀more฀posi- tive฀events฀than฀negative฀ones฀ [2] .฀Optimists฀are฀ neither฀in฀denial฀nor฀naive฀about฀challenges฀and฀ dif iculties฀in฀life.฀They฀simply฀attend฀to฀and฀ acknowledge฀the฀positive.฀ Besides฀feeling฀good,฀optimism฀has฀docu- mented฀links฀to฀much฀of฀what฀makes฀life฀worth฀ living.฀ Empirical฀ research฀ shows฀ that฀ opti- mism฀–฀usually฀assessed฀with฀self-report฀sur- veys฀–฀relates฀to฀objectively฀measured฀success฀ for฀the฀individual฀in฀a฀variety฀of฀life฀domains,฀ including฀school,฀work,฀sports,฀social฀relation- ships฀and฀even฀politics฀ [3,4] .฀These฀results฀are฀ found฀in฀longitudinal฀studies฀controlling฀for฀ baseline฀measures฀of฀the฀outcome฀of฀concern฀ and฀ relevant฀ confounds฀ and฀ they฀ are฀ found฀ not฀only฀for฀younger฀adults฀but฀also฀for฀older฀ adults฀[5] . One฀of฀the฀most฀important฀and฀intriguing฀ research฀ results฀ is฀ that฀ optimism฀ also฀ fore- shadows฀good฀health฀and฀long฀life฀ [6,7] .฀Consider฀ these฀indings: •฀ Among฀young฀men,฀optimism฀scored฀from฀ open-ended฀survey฀responses฀predicted฀better฀ physician-rated฀health฀35฀years฀later฀[8] ; •฀ Among฀older฀adult฀patients฀undergoing฀coro- nary฀artery฀bypass฀surgery,฀optimism฀pre- dicted฀ lower฀ rates฀ of฀ rehospitalization฀ for฀ surgery-related฀ complications฀ and฀ other฀ cardio฀ vascular฀problems฀over฀a฀6-month฀fol- low-up฀ [9] .฀In฀other฀words,฀optimism฀predicted฀ better฀recovery฀from฀surgery; EDITORIAL Can฀optimism฀decrease฀the฀risk฀of฀illness฀ and฀disease฀among฀the฀elderly? “ …more longitudinal studies are necessary to learn more about when, why, how and for whom optimism plays a role in good health and whether interventions that enhance optimism will yield health benefits. ” Christopher Peterson Author for correspondence: Michigan Positive Psychology Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Tel.: +1 734 764 6567 Fax: +1 734 615 0573 chrispet@umich.edu Nansook Park Michigan Positive Psychology Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Eric S Kim Michigan Positive Psychology Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Keywords •฀health฀•฀intervention฀•฀longevity฀ •฀optimism฀•฀positive฀psychology part of For reprint orders, please contact: reprints@futuremedicine.com