People who have a positive attitude and feel in control of their own destiny are more likely to practice healthy habits, say Australian researchers who studied data on the diet, exercise and personality types of more than 7,000 people.
Director of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Deborah Cobb-Clark and her colleagues found that people with a brighter outlook are more likely to eat a healthy diet and exercise more and less likely to smoke and drink alcohol to excess. Conversely, those who felt that their lives were controlled by fate or luck tended to make unhealthy lifestyle choices.