Longevity secret: Harvard study finds optimistic people can live 15% longer than pessimists. What causes more happiness? 88-year-old study says it’s neither wealth nor success

Being happy and cultivating positivity is not just great for your mental well-being; it can also help you live much longer. Yes, you read that right! According to an article published on the MIT Press Reader, which cited findings from a study conducted by Harvard University, optimists tend to live 11-15 per cent longer than pessimistic people and have a great chance of achieving “exceptional longevity". This is because they tend to have overall better cardiovascular health and also better pulmonary and metabolic responses and immunity.

Alan Rozanski, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital in New York City, examined the findings of 15 separate studies for a total of 229,391 participants in a review published in JAMA Network Open in 2019.

According to Rozanski's meta-analysis, people who are more optimistic had a 35% reduced risk of cardiovascular events and a lower death rate than people who are less optimistic. The most positive people, according to Rozanski, typically take better care of themselves, particularly by exercising, eating a healthy diet, and quitting smoking. However, the biological results of pessimism didn’t end here. Continuous amounts of stress and negative thinking lead to elevated cortisol levels and increased chronic inflammation, making the system more vulnerable to disease.

So, What Is The Secret To Happiness?

According to an almost 90-year-old ongoing study conducted by Harvard University, the strongest predictor of happiness was not wealth or success, but the quality of an individual’s close relationships. News flash: people with a strong emotional support system live longer.

Researchers began tracking 268 Harvard undergraduates during the Great Depression in 1938, which marked the beginning of the study. The Glueck Study, a second cohort of 456 boys from Boston neighbourhoods, was later included, and it has since grown to include wives and descendants. The project is currently referred to by Harvard as a longitudinal study of psychosocial predictors of healthy ageing. The Harvard Study of Adult Development was not intended to be a brief happiness poll. It was constructed as a long-term life study.

A 2017 Harvard Gazette article shared the results: long-term happiness was not dependent on worldly success and wealth creation but on cultivating strong relationships. People who were most content with their personal lives at 50 were more likely to be healthy at 80. However, the article emphasised that the importance was not the quantity of social relationships but quality. These were relationships which offered support, and the individual felt validated and trustworthy.

Close relationships can be an antidote to stress. A person who has people who he can lean on is less likely to internalise the stress. Internalising stress can have a real impact on health, such as loss of sleep, high blood pressure and rising inflammation levels in the body.