Optimism And Health

Optimism is one of the central traits required in building resilience, say Yale University investigators in the. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. They add that resilient people learn to hold on to their sense of humour and this can help them to keep a flexible attitude when big changes of plan are warranted. The ability to accept your lot with equanimity also plays an important role, the study adds.

One of the best ways to acquire resilience is through experiencing a difficult childhood, the sociologist Steven Stack reports in the Journal of Social Psych­ology. For example, short men are less likely to commit suicide than tall guys, he says, because shorties develop psychological defence skills to handle the bullies and mickey-taking that their lack of stature attracts. By contrast, those who enjoyed adversity-free youths can get derailed by setbacks later on be­cause they’ve never been inoculated against aggro.

If you are handicapped by having had a happy childhood, then practising proactive optimism can help you to become more resilient. Studies of resilient people show that they take more risks; ‘they court failure and learn not to fear it.

And despite being thick-skinned, resilient types are also more open than aver­age to other people. Bouncing through knock-backs is all part of the process.

It’s about optimistic risk-taking – being confident that people will like you. Simply smiling and being warm to people can help. It’s an altruistic path to self-interest – and if it achieves nothing else, it will reinforce an age-old adage: hard times can bring out the best in you.

Questions 1-4
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet write

YES  if the statement agrees with the information
NO  if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN  if there is no information on this

1. The benefits of optimism on health have been long known.
2. Optimists have better relationships with people than pessimists.
3. People with happy childhoods won’t be able to practise optimism.
4. Resilient people are often open, and even thick­skinned.