Male baby boomers the most optimistic Australians, survey shows

FORGET about grumpy old men. Baby boomer males are the most optimistic and Generation Y females the most pessimistic, a survey of 1000 Australian adults shows.

FORGET about grumpy old men. Baby boomer males are the most optimistic and Generation Y females the most pessimistic, a survey of 1000 Australian adults shows.

Day-to-day issues such as health, work-life balance and relationships are more important in determining a person’s outlook than terrorism, global war, climate change and politics, according to the Australian Unity Optimism Study.

It shows 68 per cent of men are optimists compared to 57 per cent of women.

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“If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then Mars must be a happier place. The study shows there are almost one million more optimistic men than optimistic women in Australia,” Australian Unity spokeswoman Laura Jennings said.

“It’s the personal things that we can generally control that have a big impact on Australians’ optimism levels. Factors including health and enjoyment of life have a far greater impact on how positive we feel,” she said.

The study shows Baby Boomers are more optimistic than Gen X and Gen Ys, men at every age are more optimistic than women, and people from Victoria are the most optimistic of all.

Jim Dolkas, with wife Faye and daughters Eleni and Anastasia, fits in Australia’s most optimistic demographic. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Hugh van Cuylenburg, founder of The Resilience Project, said he wasn’t surprised Gen Y females were the least positive.

“It’s evident women set themselves much higher standards than men. I see this every day in the schools, workplaces and sporting clubs I work with,” he said.

“When women don’t reach these standards, they’re hard on themselves and this is clearly impacting on their levels of optimism.”

But Mr Cuylenburg said the good news was “anyone can rewire their brain to scan the world for the positive”.

Eaglemont father of two and real estate consultant Jim Dolkas, 53, is proof middle-aged men are happy with their lot in life. “I’ve always been an optimistic person. I guess it might have something to do with when I grew up,” he said.

“I’m open-minded and always interested in doing new things.”

THE MOST OPTIMISTIC AUSSIE:

• Male

• Baby boomer

• Victorian

• Full-time worker

• University-educated

• Type of person who plans ahead

THE MOST PESSIMISTIC AUSSIE

• Female

• Gen Y

• South Australian

• Unemployed

• High school-educated

• Believes luck helps you get ahead

— Source: Australian Unity survey