Vaughan, over at the Mind Hacks blog, draws our attention to studies that appear to show that pessimists are more likely to die earlier than optimists. Bugger, that’s me done for, then. However, the entry does point out one interesting chicken-or-egg aspect of this:
…one of the difficulties with these sorts of studies is determining causality.Does being pessimistic make you more likely to have poor health, or does having poor health make you more likely to be pessimistic, or might it be a combination of both, perhaps working as a self-reinforcing cycle?
Iinteresting questions. And I take some comfort from the fact that I enjoy good health – I’m just a pessimist by nature…
Geoff Coupe's Blog 
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