Feeling That Life Has Meaning, and Living Longer

Drawing on 153,505 UK Biobank participants who rated how much they felt their life had meaning, researchers tracked deaths over roughly six years. Each standard deviation higher in meaning in life was linked to a 15 percent lower risk of dying from any cause, an association that narrowed but held after accounting for income, health conditions and health behaviours, and was slightly stronger among women. The protective link remained even for people experiencing depression at the time, which suggests meaning contributes something of its own, even amid distress. As a large observational study it shows association rather than cause, and self-reported meaning is difficult to capture cleanly. Still, because a sense of meaning can be cultivated, the researchers frame it as a plausible target for protecting health, and one that people can actively build.