People who maintain an active social life despite health problems experience slower declines in their well-being later on in life.
For this study, Denis Gerstorf at Humboldt University and colleagues examined data on more than 2,900 participants who were enrolled in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study but have since passed away. The participants' average age at death was 74. They had provided information on their health, satisfaction factors, household set up, employment status, income and occupation every year.
Well-being was measured using a scale of zero to 10 for questions such as "How satisfied are you with your life concurrently, all things considered?" Other questions had asked the participants about their social activities as well as any social and marriage/family goals.
The team found that people who were socially active and had specific social goals were more likely to have higher well-being scores later on in life. Family goals did not appear to contribute to well-being. The researchers argued that since relationships within a family can become complex over time, family goals could have either a negative or positive effect on well-being depending on factors such as age.
The researchers also found that people who reported lower levels of social activity or a lack of social goals were more likely to experience declines in their well-being. When people reported both of these factors together, the negative effect on well-being appeared to be even stronger.
"Our results indicate that living a socially active life and prioritizing social goals are associated with higher late-life satisfaction and less severe declines toward the end of life," study lead author, Denis Gerstorf at Humboldt University, said in a press release.
Gerstorf reasoned that participating in social activities increases well-being because these activities can contribute to happiness and provide a sense of control over one's life. Setting social goals and accomplishing them can also help with well-being because these goals tend to boost people's feeling of competence and belonging.
"A socially engaged lifestyle often involves cognitive stimulation and physical activity, which in turn may protect against the neurological and physical factors underlying cognitive decline," said study author Gert Wagner from the German Institute for Economic Research. "Our results indicate that social orientation is related to maintaining well-being for as long as possible into the very last years of life."
The study's findings were published in the journal Psychology and Aging.
