Sense of Purpose Linked to Longevity

A sense of purpose is reportedly linked to longevity, new research shows, as a group of elderly participants who felt they were worthwhile were 30 percent less likely to die compared to their seemingly empty-feeling companions.

Researchers from the University College London (UCL), in collaboration with Princeton University and Stony Brook University, used questionnaires on participants with an average age of 65 to measure a type of wellbeing called "eudemonic wellbeing." This refers to a person's sense of control and purpose in life, as well as feeling that what they do is worthwhile.

In the study, the result of which were published in the journal The Lancet, 9,050 English participants were divided into four categories based on their answers, ranked from highest wellbeing to lowest wellbeing, while adjusting for factors like age, sex, depression and socio-economic status.

Over the next eight and a half years of follow-up study, nine percent of people in the highest wellbeing category had died, compared with 29 percent in the lowest category.

But most astonishingly, those with the greatest wellbeing were 30 percent less likely to die during the follow-up period - that's two years longer on average compared to participants in the lowest wellbeing group.

"We have previously found that happiness is associated with a lower risk of death," Professor Andrew Steptoe, Director of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, who led the study, said in a statement. "These analyses show that the meaningfulness and sense of purpose that older people have in their lives are also related to survival."

However, Steptoe and his colleagues are quick to note that the results simply establish a link, and not a cause-and-effect relationship. They do suggest that certain biological mechanisms play a part in longevity, for example, through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure.

Researchers next plan to explore these underlying systems to see if such changes might be behind the link between wellbeing and life expectancy in the elderly.