Satisfaction with life refers to the overall way in which people evaluate their own lives: including their relationships, career, achieved goals and ability to cope with daily life.
Higher satisfaction with life is linked to markedly improved psychological and physical health, a study finds.
Satisfaction with life refers to the overall way in which people evaluate their own lives: including their relationships, career, achieved goals and ability to cope with daily life.
It is often contrasted with moment-by-moment happiness.
People who are highly satisfied with their lives tend to agree strongly with statements like:
- “In most ways my life is close to my ideal.”
- “The conditions of my life are excellent.”
- “So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.”
- “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.”
The study found that people who were highly satisfied with their lives were also:
- 46 percent less likely to be depressed.
- 26 percent less likely to die.
- 25 percent less likely to have a physical disability.
They were also more hopeful, optimistic, felt a greater sense of mastery and were less lonely.
Improve satisfaction with life
Money and how people rate their appearance have a considerable effect on how satisfied people are with life.
However, many factors that are easier to change affect life satisfaction.
Relationships clearly have a large effect on life satisfaction, along with jobs, hobbies, learning to savour life, setting goals, being in nature and even analysing negative events in life.
In the end, accepting and adapting to circumstances that cannot be changed makes people feel more content.
Governments should look past money
The conclusions of the current study come from almost 13,000 people over 50-years-old surveyed in the U.S..
Each was asked to evaluate their health and well-being and followed up four years later.
Dr Eric Kim, the study’s first author, said:
“Life satisfaction is a person’s evaluation of his or her own life based on factors that they deem most relevant.
While life satisfaction is shaped by genetics, social factors and changing life circumstances, it can also be improved on both the individual level as well as collectively on the national level.”
The results showed that people whose life satisfaction improved also experienced considerable boosts in psychological and physical health.
The research is part of an effort to persuade governments to think about more than just money when making policy decisions.
Dr Kim said:
“The results of this study suggest that life satisfaction is a valuable target for policymakers to consider when enhancing physical, psychological and behavioural health outcomes at the policy level.”
He continued:
“As our nations pause and reevaluate our priorities in light of the widespread change caused by COVID-19, our policymakers have a rare and excellent opportunity to pursue well-being for all in the post-pandemic world.”
The study was published in the journal The Milbank Quarterly (Kim et al., 2021).
