Other Things Being Equal, Happy People Live Longer

There have been studies linking people who generally consider themselves as happy with greater longevity.  But a more precise measure would be to make a momentary assessment of happiness (or ‘positive affect’), and look for an association of that emotion with longevity.  This has been done by researchers at the University College of London, UK; their findings are reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Data came from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, a collection of older men and women living in the UK.  Happiness was assessed by averaging four momentary assessments over a single day in 3,800 people aged 52 to 79. The subjects were asked to write down how they felt at four different times of the day.  Smoking status, financial status, education, ethnicity, and overall health were also recorded.  They were then followed for an average of 5 years.    

Based on their recorded feelings, participants were into three groups: the happiest group, the middle group, and the least-happy group.  Although there were minor differences in smoking status, wealth, and age, the groups were similar with regard to the other factors measures.  After 5 years, analysis showed that 3.6% of the happiest group, 4.6% of the middle group, and 7.3% of the least-happy group had died.  This means that risk of death within 5 years was 50% lower in the happiest group of subjects, compared to the least happy.  However, after corrections for differences in demographic factors, health indicators, and health behaviors (e.g. smoking, alcohol), the risk of death in the happiest was only reduced by 35%, compared with the least happy.

This study doesn’t clarify whether momentary (but presumably repeated) happiness is causally related to survival, or whether it’s a marker (i.e. a bystander) for some other biological, behavioral, or temperamental factors that affect survival.  However, if you’re a happy person, don’t change a thing; but if you’re somewhat unhappy, work on trying to change – just in case!