Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland found that men who reported high levels of satisfaction with life were more likely to be alive 20 years later. Dissatisfied men were more than twice as likely to die regardless of cause and more than three times more likely to die of a disease. The study found no association between life satisfaction and mortality in women. It's thought that the coping abilities of women with distress and dissatisfaction are better than that of men. Men dissatisfied with life might cope by abusing alcohol, smoking or not exercising.
Women are more likely to talk about their problems with friends or seek professional help.
Life satisfaction refers to a general sense of well-being and takes into account a person's interest in life and his or her feelings of happiness or loneliness, the report explains. Although marriage, exercise, higher social class, not smoking, and drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may decrease the risk of death, it's thought that the association between feeling satisfied and living longer also is an important factor. In addition to life satisfaction, other research suggests the importance of having an optimistic outlook on life. A Mayo Clinic study indicates that people who expect misfortune and who only see the darker side of life don't live as long as those with a more optimistic view. Researchers compared results from a personality test taken by participants more than 30 years ago with their subsequent mortality rates.