How having a sense of purpose in your life makes you live longer

A new research study has found that life is likely to last longer if it ‘has purpose and seems worthwhile’.

17:39 06 November 2014

New research has found that having a sense of purpose in life makes pensioners live longer. Based on the findings, pensioners with greatest sense of wellbeing were 30per cent less likely to die within a decade than those who were least satisfied.

The study was participated by 9,000 English pensioners with an average age of 65. In nine years that they were monitored, 9per cent of people in the highest wellbeing category died. This is much lower compared with 29per cent in the lowest.

Study leader Professor Andrew Steptoe, director of University College London's Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: "These analyses show that the meaningfulness and sense of purpose that older people have in their lives are also related to survival.

"We cannot be sure that higher well-being necessarily causes lower risk of death, since the relationship may not be causal. But the findings raise the intriguing possibility that increasing well-being could help to improve physical health.

"There are several biological mechanisms that may link well-being to improved health, for example through hormonal changes or reduced blood pressure. Further research is now needed to see if such changes might contribute to the links between well-being and life expectancy in older people."