HAVING a sense of meaning and purpose can certainly make life more enjoyable, but can it lengthen your life? According to researchers publishing in The Lancet, the answer is yes.
Previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of positivity in aging, recently reported one such study suggested subliminal positive messages result in improved physical function in older people.
For this latest study, the researchers – led by Prof. Andrew Steptoe, director of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care – employed questionnaire answers to measure a type of well-being known as “eudemonic well-being,” which relates to an individual’s sense of control, feeling that what they do is worthwhile and their sense of purpose in life.
The study included 9,050 English people who were an average age of 65, which the researchers divided into four categories based on their answers – ranked from highest to lowest well-being. There was also an 8.5-year follow-up period. The team adjusted the results for age, sex, socioeconomic status, physical health,depression, smoking, physical activity and alcohol intake, in order to rule out factors that could impact on health and well-being.
The researchers observed that during the follow-up period, 9% of people in the highest category of well-being died, compared with 29% in the lowest category.
After taking into account all other factors, the researchers found that study participants with the highest level of well-being were 30% less likely to die during the study period and lived an average of 2 years more than those with the lowest levels.
Prof. Steptoe notes that their previous studies have found that happiness is linked with a lower risk of death. Their current study adds to this field by demonstrating sense of purpose in older people is linked to their survival.
“We cannot be sure that higher well-being necessarily causes lower risk of death,” he notes, “since the relationship may not be causal. But the findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing well-being could help to improve physical health.” As part of their study, the team also assessed data on “evaluative well-being” – a measure of life satisfaction – and “hedonic well-being” – which is related to feelings of happiness, sadness, anger, stress and pain. Though international data from the Gallup World Poll showed that life satisfaction dips around middle age and rises in older age among residents of high-income English speaking countries, this pattern varied across the world.
