Are optimists healthier than pessimists?

Host - We'll start off with a few stories on diet and nutrition in the news. Some research, Nina, on the whole way that we think - the optimistic, the pessimistic amongst us. How is that working, is that glass half full, half empty?

Nina - Half empty.

Host - That well-known phrase!

Nina - Indeed. Interesting research carried out by a medical centre in North Carolina in the United States. They researched around 7,000 people and it was deemed that just over 1,600 people were pessimists, and a tad over 900 were optimists. The rest were somewhere in between. But what it showed is that optimists are less prone to depression, which can also mean that it has a positive effect on their physical health, so they are more likely to take care of their diet and their exercise.

Nina - The other thing that comes out of it is when an optimistic is experiencing - if I can say - negative events, they know and they have a belief that it's only temporary, so they don't blame themselves and they don't blame the rest of the world, as opposed to the pessimists who tend to think that those negative events will last forever, and do blame themselves.

Host - So the whole thing's in the mind really, isn't it?

Nina - Well, it is really, and we are very influenced by the world around us and the people that we spend most time with, so if you're leaning towards the glass being half empty and you would prefer it to be more full, maybe hang out with more cheery, happy people because eventually that will rub off on you.