MONDAY, Nov. 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Having a clear purpose in life could lower your risk of premature death.
That’s the conclusion of researchers who spent eight years following about 13,000 Americans over the age of 50.
According to the new study, those who considered their life to be particularly worthwhile had about a 15% risk of dying from any cause during the follow-up period. This figure rose to nearly 37% among participants with the lowest goal level.
“[Having] purpose in life is defined as the degree to which people perceive their lives as having a sense of direction and purpose,” said lead author Koichiro Shiba, assistant professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health.
And a greater sense of purpose was linked to a lower risk of premature death among people of all races and ethnicities, he noted.
The link was also seen in men and women, although the protective benefit was somewhat weaker in men, the researchers found.
For the study, participants were asked between 2006 and 2008 to indicate how useful they considered their life to be, based on a standard questionnaire. They were then categorized as having a “low”, “medium-low”, “medium-high” or “high” meaning. Deaths were tracked for the next eight years.
As goal levels increased, the risk of death during that time decreased, whether from stroke, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or lung disease.
The researchers noted, however, that several factors influenced the extent to which an individual reported having a strong goal.
Having more money, being in better physical and mental health, and being younger at the start of the study were all related to reporting a larger goal at baseline.
As to why women seem to benefit more from the determination-longevity link than men, Shiba said more studies would be needed.
But he pointed out that in general, men tend to be less likely to seek health care than women.
And in addition to helping to reduce stress and protect against problematic inflammation, Shiba suggested that having a purpose likely encourages people to take better care of themselves.