Being optimistic does not help stress response but may reduce frequency of it, study finds

Optimism may not help people respond to stress, but it could reduce how often they experience it, according to a new study. Photo by geralt/Pixabay

It also seems to change the way they interpret situations as stressful or not, the researchers said.

“This study tests … if more optimistic people handle daily stress more constructively,” study co-author Lewina Lee said in a press release.

The findings also indicate they “therefore enjoy better emotional well-being,” said Lee, a clinical psychologist at the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder at the VA Boston Healthcare System and assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

Lee and her colleagues followed 233 people born between 1940 and 1949 who completed optimism questionnaires administered by the Veterans Affairs Health System, or VA, in 1986 and 1991.

Fourteen years later, these study participants were asked to report daily stressors, along with positive and negative moods, on eight consecutive evenings up to three times over an eight-year span.

More optimistic men were about 20% less likely to report negative mood and about twice as likely to report more positive mood compared with those who were more pessimistic, the data showed.

They also reported having up to 80% fewer stressors, which was unrelated to their higher positive mood but explained their lower levels of negative mood, the researchers said.

While earlier studies have supported the idea that optimism may promote good health and long life, why this is the case remains unknown, they said.

“Stress, on the other hand, is known to have a negative impact on our health,” Lee said.

“By looking at whether optimistic people handle day-to-day stressors differently, our findings add to knowledge about how optimism may promote good health as people age,” she said.