The Power of Positivity.Smile. Have Better Meetings. And Live Longer. Positive thinking is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action. All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet or spend time with. Our thoughts and feelings, our body language, and what we say all have an impact on those around us. Negative thoughts, words and attitudes bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. Positivity on the other hand, brings about a willingness to help and a general feeling of happiness. In meetings, it has been proven that a negative attitude by even one member of the team can result in frustration and an inability to work together. But beginning with a positive attitude can set the tone and help the team to achieve remarkable results. And this positive attitude might even help your team live a longer life. Researchers from Wayne State University examined the 1952 Baseball Register photos of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950. It turns out that their picture tells an amazing story about the power of positive thinking. So keep smiling, and enjoy. ——————————————————————————————————- It’s All in the (Baseball) Cards: The Wider the Smile, The Longer the Life BY ANNE DRISCOLL | THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010 11:24 AM ET Note to players: as the new season gets underway, don’t stop smiling. Pitcher Nolan Ryan holds the record for the longest Major League Baseball career, having played for 27 years. And it’s true that, aside from golf, baseball players have some of the longest careers of any professional sports. But it also turns out that baseball cards not only showcase batting averages and RBIs, they also effectively predict longevity. Really. That is the word of scientists reported in Psychological Science this week. Apparently when researchers Ernest Abel and Michael Kruger from Wayne State University examined the 1952 Baseball Register photos of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950, they found the span of their smile accurately predicted their life span. The players were rated as to “no smile” if they stared blankly at the camera, “partial smile” if the muscles around their mouths were only slightly raised and “full smile” if they had a wide grin, both cheeks raised, which is also known as a Duchenne smile. The researchers found that the wide-grinning players were half as likely to die in any year compared to non-smilers. As of June, 2009, the players who were deadpan for the cameras lived an average of 72.9 years, those with slight smiles died at age 75 and those with the most beaming smiles lived the longest — 79.9 years. Of the 230 players, 46 players were still alive. The scientists also did a follow-up study to see whether attractiveness correlated with longevity and found that good looks did not add significantly to life span. In any case, far fewer individuals had full smiles — 23 — than partial (64) or no smiles (63). “To the extent that smile intensity reflects an underlying emotional disposition, the results of this study are congruent with those of other studies demonstrating that emotions have a positive relationship with mental health, physical health and longevity,” the study said. So smile, you’ll live longer.

The Power of Positivity.
Smile. Have Better Meetings. And Live Longer.

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action.

All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet or spend time with. Our thoughts and feelings, our body language, and what we say all have an impact on those around us. Negative thoughts, words and attitudes bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. Positivity on the other hand, brings about a willingness to help and a general feeling of happiness.

In meetings, it has been proven that a negative attitude by even one member of the team can result in frustration and an inability to work together. But beginning with a positive attitude can set the tone and help the team to achieve remarkable results. And this positive attitude might even help your team live a longer life.

Researchers from Wayne State University examined the 1952 Baseball Register photos of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950. It turns out that their picture tells an amazing story about the power of positive thinking. So keep smiling, and enjoy.

——————————————————————————————————-

It’s All in the (Baseball) Cards: The Wider the Smile, The Longer the Life

BY ANNE DRISCOLL | THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010 11:24 AM ET

Note to players: as the new season gets underway, don’t stop smiling.

Pitcher Nolan Ryan holds the record for the longest Major League Baseball career, having played for 27 years. And it’s true that, aside from golf, baseball players have some of the longest careers of any professional sports. But it also turns out that baseball cards not only showcase batting averages and RBIs, they also effectively predict longevity. Really.

That is the word of scientists reported in Psychological Science this week. Apparently when researchers Ernest Abel and Michael Kruger from Wayne State University examined the 1952 Baseball Register photos of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950, they found the span of their smile accurately predicted their life span. The players were rated as to “no smile” if they stared blankly at the camera, “partial smile” if the muscles around their mouths were only slightly raised and “full smile” if they had a wide grin, both cheeks raised, which is also known as a Duchenne smile.

The researchers found that the wide-grinning players were half as likely to die in any year compared to non-smilers. As of June, 2009, the players who were deadpan for the cameras lived an average of 72.9 years, those with slight smiles died at age 75 and those with the most beaming smiles lived the longest — 79.9 years. Of the 230 players, 46 players were still alive. The scientists also did a follow-up study to see whether attractiveness correlated with longevity and found that good looks did not add significantly to life span. In any case, far fewer individuals had full smiles — 23 — than partial (64) or no smiles (63).

“To the extent that smile intensity reflects an underlying emotional disposition, the results of this study are congruent with those of other studies demonstrating that emotions have a positive relationship with mental health, physical health and longevity,” the study said. So smile, you’ll live longer.