The Power of Positive Emotions: It's a Matter of Life or Death-Subjective Well-Being and Longevity Over 28 Years in a General Population

Objective: This study longitudinally examined Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and its components, namely, Positive Feelings (PF, including global life satisfaction [GLS]), domain life satisfaction [DLS], and positive affect [PA]) as well as Negative Feelings (NF) as predictors of longevity in a general...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health psychology 2010-01, Vol.29 (1), p.9-19
Main Authors: Xu, Jingping, Roberts, Robert E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult. Elderly
Affect
Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Death and Dying
Developmental psychology
Emotions
Expressed Emotion
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Life Expectancy
Life Satisfaction
Longevity
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Personal Satisfaction
Population Surveillance
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Quality of Life - psychology
Social Support
Well Being
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: This study longitudinally examined Subjective Well-Being (SWB) and its components, namely, Positive Feelings (PF, including global life satisfaction [GLS]), domain life satisfaction [DLS], and positive affect [PA]) as well as Negative Feelings (NF) as predictors of longevity in a general population. Design: Data from the Alameda County Study over 28 years (1965-1993, N = 6856) were analyzed with multivariate Cox Proportional Hazard Models. Main Outcome Measures: Longevity, evaluated by risks of all-cause, natural-cause, and unnatural-cause mortality. Results: After demographic and baseline health covariates were controlled, SWB, PF, GLS, and DLS significantly predicted lowered risks of all-cause and natural-cause mortality (Relative Risk per unit predictor increase [RR] ranged .904-.989, p values ranged .000-.05). SWB, PF, and GLS also significantly predicted lowered risk of unnatural-cause mortality (RR ranged .862-.961, p values ranged .014-.05). These associations seemed partially or completely mediated by social networks. The associations were also found separately in younger (
ISSN:0278-6133
1930-7810
DOI:10.1037/a0016767