The relationship between positive psychological characteristics and longer telomeres

Title
The relationship between positive psychological characteristics and longer telomeres
Publication Date
2016
Author(s)
Schutte, Nicola S
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3294-7659
Email: nschutte@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:nschutte
Palanisamy, Suresh K A
McFarlane, James R
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4429-5384
Email: jmcfarla@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jmcfarla
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Routledge
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1080/08870446.2016.1226308
UNE publication id
une:19790
Abstract
Objective: Longer telomeres are associated with better health and longevity. This research investigated the relationship between positive psychological dispositional traits and telomere length. Positive traits examined were typical high positive affect, typical low negative affect, life satisfaction, trait mindfulness, trait emotional intelligence, general self-efficacy and optimism. Design and Measures: One hundred and twenty women and men, with a mean age of 40.92, completed measures of positive characteristics and provided samples for telomere length analysis. Results: Together the positive dispositional characteristics explained significant variance in telomere length, R = .40. Among the individual characteristics, greater optimism and higher emotional intelligence were associated with longer telomeres after adjustment for age and gender and the association between optimism and telomere length remained significant after adjusting for age and gender as well as the other positive characteristics, with a partial correlation r of .30. Conclusion: These results in conjunction with previous research findings provide a platform for further exploration of biological pathways connecting positive characteristics such as optimism to telomere length and investigation of the impact of increasing a characteristic such as optimism on telomere functioning.
Link
Citation
Psychology & Health, 31(12), p. 1466-1480
ISSN
1476-8321
0887-0446
Start page
1466
End page
1480

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