You Are What You Think Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty? Do you keep your eye upon the dough-nut (油炸圈饼), not upon the hole? Suddenly these cliches (陈词滥调) are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking. A fast-growing body of research--104 studies so far, involving some 15,000 people--is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. 'If we could teach people to think more positively,' says psychologist Craig A. Anderson of Rice University in Houston, 'it would be like inoculating (接种) them against these mental ills.' 1. Influence on their abilities 'Your abilities count,' explains psychologist Michael F. Scheier of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 'but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will.' In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways. Take, for example, your job. In a major study, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleague Peter Schulman surveyed sales representatives at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. They found that the positive thinkers among long-time representatives, sold 37 percent more insurance than did the negative thinkers. Of newly hired representatives, optimists sold 20 percent more. Impressed, the company hired 100 people who had failed the standard industry test but had scored high on optimism. These people who might never have been hired, sold 10 percent more insurance than did the average representatives. How did they do it? The secret to an optimist's success, according to Seligman, is in his 'explanatory style'. When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. 'I'm no good at this,' he says, 'I always fail.' The optimist looks for other explanations. He blames the weather, the phone connection, even the other person. That customer was in a bad mood, he thinks. When things go right, the optimist takes credit while the pessimist thinks success is due to luck. Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy (预言能力). 'If people feel hopeless,' says Anderson, 'they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed.' A sense of control, according to Anderson, is the real test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like a toy of fate and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done. 2. Influence on their health Optimists may think they are better than the facts would justify--and sometimes that's what keeps them from getting sick. In a long-term study, researchers examined the health histories of a group of Harvard graduates, all of whom were in the top half of their class and in fine physical conditions. Yet some were positive thinkers, and some negative. 20 years later, there were more middle-age diseases among the pessimists than the optimists. Many studies suggest that the pessimists' feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Dr. Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to avoid life's blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He eats unhealthy food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink. 3. What underlines pessimism and optimism? Most people arc a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction