According to officials from the University of Miami, whether an individual is shown to be optimistic or pessimistic on a personality test can affect the way in which they deal with stressful situations. This may be particularly important when an individual faces a taxing health-related issue, as various studies have shown that being optimistic can be advantageous.

For example, a recent study by researchers at the University of Michigan indicates that people who are optimistic have a significantly lower risk of having a stroke, USA Today reports.

In order to come to this conclusion, researchers used data from the Health and Retirement Study. This allowed them to see nationwide information on individuals who had strokes, as well as the results of their standard optimism tests.

Using this data, the researchers found that even when they adjusted for factors like alcohol use, race, gender and smoking, for each unit increase on their optimism tests, people had a 9 percent decrease in their stroke risk, according to the news outlet.