On Tuesday 27 August Professor Lisa Bortolotti commented in the Guardian on a recent study suggesting a link between optimism and longevity, and was also interviewed on the subject by BBC5 Live radio (during their Breakfast programme) and BBC World News.
In the afternoon she was interviewed on six regional radio channels discussing the advantages of optimism for health and beyond and the effects of different types of optimism. Based on her ERC-funded project PERFECT and her Templeton-funded project on Costs and Benefits of Optimism, Bortolotti explained that having an optimistic personality, but also having beliefs about ourselves that are optimistically biased, can have benefits for our health and help us persevere in the pursuit of our goals in the face of difficulties. For those who want to know more, Bortolotti published a paper on this issue, "Optimism, Agency, and Success", that is available via open access.