Do you want to live longer? Happiness does pay off as hope and optimism have a long-term impact on our well-being. A very interesting study shows just that.
In 1930, 180 nuns who were around 22 years old wrote brief autobiographies. Each nun was asked by her Mother Superior to write a short sketch of her life.
The essay was to contain no more than two to three hundred words and should be written on a single sheet of paper. The nuns were asked to include place of birth, parentage, interesting childhood events, schools attended, influences that led to the convent, religious life, and outstanding events.
Little did they know that over 70 years later in 2001 their words would be able to predict their lifespan.
Psychologist Deborah D. Danner of the University of Kentucky and her colleagues analyzed the nuns' letters for positive emotional content, then related them to the nuns' survival between the ages of 75 to 95.
Their study revealed that the nuns whose autobiographies contained the most sentences expressing positive emotions lived an average of seven years longer than nuns whose stories contained the fewest.
Further, lifespan increased by 9.5 years for nuns whose
autobiographies contained the most words referring to positive emotions, and by 10.5 years for nuns who used the greatest variety of positive-emotion words.
Study coauthor Wallace V. Friesen said "Our results should spur research into the poorly understood link between positive emotions and longevity," and he continued, "I never would have guessed this association is so strong."
In this blog, we have on several occasions talked about happiness and fulfillment, which are part of living the best life possible. The nun study is a very powerful piece of research, which underlines the importance of certain character strengths and their influence on happiness. Other research has shown that the 5 strengths with the biggest impact on fulfillment and happiness are:
1. Capacity to love and be loved
2. Gratitude
3. Hope and optimism
4. Zest
5. Curiosity
If you want to know your strengths, go to www.viastrengths.com and take the VIA (Values in Action) strengths assessment. There is an assessment for young people too. It is all FREE!
You can also read more about the 24 character strengths, which have been selected for the assessment.
Many people are very good at pointing out their weaknesses or areas for development. This is were the focus is in many schools and companies too. The VIA strengths assessment is different as this is an opportunity to get more awareness of your personal strengths! Many of us do not even realize our own strengths, as we take them for granted, or we are just too focused on what is not working.
This is an opportunity to find your own strengths, and work on ways to apply them even more wherever you are. We all have something unique to give to this world and there is HOPE!
So what are you waiting for? This might even prolong your lifespan.
Keep Inspiring!
Happy Days
Coach Bay
Little did they know that over 70 years later in 2001 their words would be able to predict their lifespan.
Psychologist Deborah D. Danner of the University of Kentucky and her colleagues analyzed the nuns' letters for positive emotional content, then related them to the nuns' survival between the ages of 75 to 95.
Their study revealed that the nuns whose autobiographies contained the most sentences expressing positive emotions lived an average of seven years longer than nuns whose stories contained the fewest.
Further, lifespan increased by 9.5 years for nuns whoseautobiographies contained the most words referring to positive emotions, and by 10.5 years for nuns who used the greatest variety of positive-emotion words.
Study coauthor Wallace V. Friesen said "Our results should spur research into the poorly understood link between positive emotions and longevity," and he continued, "I never would have guessed this association is so strong."
In this blog, we have on several occasions talked about happiness and fulfillment, which are part of living the best life possible. The nun study is a very powerful piece of research, which underlines the importance of certain character strengths and their influence on happiness. Other research has shown that the 5 strengths with the biggest impact on fulfillment and happiness are:
1. Capacity to love and be loved
2. Gratitude
3. Hope and optimism
4. Zest
5. Curiosity
If you want to know your strengths, go to www.viastrengths.com and take the VIA (Values in Action) strengths assessment. There is an assessment for young people too. It is all FREE!
You can also read more about the 24 character strengths, which have been selected for the assessment.
Many people are very good at pointing out their weaknesses or areas for development. This is were the focus is in many schools and companies too. The VIA strengths assessment is different as this is an opportunity to get more awareness of your personal strengths! Many of us do not even realize our own strengths, as we take them for granted, or we are just too focused on what is not working.
This is an opportunity to find your own strengths, and work on ways to apply them even more wherever you are. We all have something unique to give to this world and there is HOPE!
So what are you waiting for? This might even prolong your lifespan.
Keep Inspiring!
Happy Days
Coach Bay
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