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Live Longer By Having a Purpose in Life: Study

Live Longer By Having a Purpose in Life
(Photo : Flickr ) Live Longer By Having a Purpose in Life

Having a purpose to live helps improve overall health and increases life span, according to a study.

Recently, Canadian experts discovered individuals who have a set goal or an ambition in life tend to live longer by avoiding the risk of developing age induced health conditions. They looked at data from the Midlife in United States study (MIDUS) involving more than 6,000 people to note the impact of psychosocial factors like self-reported purpose in life, social relations, positive and negative emotions on health. The subjects were surveyed about their dreams, ambitions and ambitions.

The participants were followed for nearly 14 years and almost 9 percent of them died during the study period. It was observed that these individuals were mainly those who had lesser purpose in life and positive relations compared to the rest of the subjects. People of age groups and gender who made plans to achieve their goals and ambitious had lower mortality risk and increased longevity.

"There are a lot of reasons to believe that being purposeful might help protect older adults more so than younger ones," said Patrick Hill, study author and researcher from the Carleton University in Canada in a news release.

 "For instance, adults might need a sense of direction more, after they have left the workplace and lost that source for organizing their daily events. In addition, older adults are more likely to face mortality risks than younger adults, " Hill said.

The authors explained having purpose in life and working on it increases psychological well being, influences people to practice healthy living, develop positive emotions and maintain healthy relations in the social circle. These factors help ward off diseases and illnesses that occur in old age thereby adding extra number of living years.

"These findings suggest that there's something unique about finding a purpose that seems to be leading to greater longevity," said Hill, who is currently working to examine if having a purpose makes people adopt healthy lifestyle habits.

"In so doing, we can better understand the value of finding a purpose throughout the lifespan, and whether it provides different benefits for different people," Hill added.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and more information is available online in the journal Psychological Sciences.

May 14, 2014 06:06 AM EDT

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