We all know some people who seem to scoff and mock at everything and everyone. Entertaining? Yes, in the short term. Long term it gets tedious listening to people who can never find anything good to say about anything.

Research now says that they are doing themselves harm. Psychologists say the mockers have Cynicism or “Cynical hostility” as a trait and now write papers about such people. As a rough overall finding, they die about twice as often as kinder people. The deaths are due mainly to heart problems, and a smaller proportion to other causes. One study was able to show that the reason the deaths were more frequent, was cigarette smoking and alcohol use.

On the other side of the spectrum psychologists talk about a major personality factor called “Agreeableness”. Do such people live longer? The results are mixed. Some studies do show this, but in others the effect may be weak or absent. Some media have tried to summarise the whole situation by saying “nice people live longer”. If they do, one reason may be increased social support.

Yes; it is better to bless than curse. It seems any negativity rebounds on you, but blessing may bless you.

The illustration is not a real person – Gemini has used its creative imagination!]

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