Major study links cynicism to poor health
● Emotion can increase risk of becoming ill – and also be caused by bad health
It is an emotion which is often met with a negative reaction from people who believe that doubting the veracity or motivations of others prevents a person from enjoying life.
But now, an academic study has revealed that being cynical also increases the risk of becoming ill.
However, the research, from the University of Cologne, also confirmed that the opposite is true: bad health causes people to become more cynical.
This vicious cycle has been confirmed by two social psychologists who analysed data from 40,000 people.
Using data from the German Socio-economic Panel and the US Health and Retirement Study, Dr Daniel Ehlebracht from the University of Cologne and Dr Olga Stavrova from Tilburg University looked at subjective health perceptions and various objective measures of physical health, such as the number of diagnoses from doctors, blood pressure or grip strength.
Results revealed that cynical individuals were much more likely to develop health problems, but that poor health also promoted the develop - ment of a cynical world view over time.
“Health problems that noticeably constrained sub - jects’ lives were the most likely to lead to cynicism ,” Dr Eh le bracht said .“If someone’s illness prevented them from climbing up the stairs, for example, they had a higher chance of becoming cynical than if they suffered from something less obviously in convenient like elevated blood pressure.”
David Gill anders, senior lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh, said there were links between the way people with different personality types handle diagnoses, adding that cynicism could play a part in this.
He said :“The degree of which people develop and use coping strategies to deal with an illness can have an impact. Cynicism is linked to feelings of pointlessness and the attitude that something is not going to work.”
He added: “It is very different to if someone is accepting of a diagnosis and takes a stance of how best to respond to their condition.”
The report’ s findings, published in the European Journal of Personality, suggest that cynicism and ill health present a chain of circumstances with each worsening the other – meaning that the personality trait is both a cause and a consequence of bad health.
The report said that st ablesoci al networks and wellfunctioning institutional support might help break the vicious circle of cynicism and bad health.
The notion of cynicism– an inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest – originated in a branch of Greek philosophy focusing on people living in a way which is natural for themselves.
By the 19th century, emphasis on the negative aspects of Cynic philosophy led to the modern understanding of cynicism to mean ad is position of disbelief in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions.