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" Pop quiz: Do you tend to see the glass half full, or half empty? If you picked half full, you might live a longer, healthier life. A new study suggests that optimistic women are more likely to live longer than their pessimistic peers. Here&amp;#x27;s why you should always look on the bright side...Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh asked 100,000 women to fill out a questionnaire that measured optimistic tendencies. Eight years later, those who scored highest in optimism were 14 percent more likely to be alive, while pessimists were more likely to have died from any cause, including heart disease and cancer. The study controlled for other variables that affect health, such as diet, education and lifestyle. So even if two women have similar eating and exercise patterns, the optimistic one is still more likely to live longer. &amp;quot;Taking into account income, education, health behaviors like [controlling] blood pressure and whether or not you are physically active, whether or not you drink or smoke, we still see optimists with a decreased risk of death compared to pessimists,&amp;quot; lead study author Dr. Hilary Tindle told Time. &amp;quot;I was surprised that the relationship was independent of all of these factors.&amp;quot; Researchers aren&amp;#x27;t sure why optimism can boost longevity, but suggest it might be because optimistic people tend to have more friends they can rely on. Plus, people who look on the sunny side also cope better with stress. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? (I&amp;#x27;m a &amp;quot;glass half-full&amp;quot; type of gal.) How do you think your outlook affects your health? Photo: iStock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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