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Life Satisfaction and Longevity: Longitudinal Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel

Author

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  • Guven Cahit

    (Deakin University,Geelong, Australia)

  • Saloumidis Rudy

    (Deakin University,Geelong, Australia)

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between life satisfaction and mortality using the German Socio-Economic Panel, which allows us to follow around 15,000 people for more than two decades. Seventeen per cent of the respondents surveyed in 1984 died between 1984 and 2007. After controlling for initial health conditions, we find that people’s life satisfaction at the beginning of the survey is deeply linked to their life expectancy: a ten per cent increase in life satisfaction is connected to a four per cent decline in the probability of death in the period studied. The relationship between life satisfaction and mortality is stronger for the married and the men but life satisfaction does not matter for the women. We find some suggestive evidence that links between life satisfaction and mortality could be operating via accidents and mental health. Finally, we show that the life satisfaction measured in 1984 extends to the rest of life: people who were happier in 1984 more frequently experienced high levels of happiness in the rest of their lives. These results suggest that life satisfaction is a powerful risk-factor for later mortality and is more predictive of mortality than a host of other variables.

Suggested Citation

  • Guven Cahit & Saloumidis Rudy, 2014. "Life Satisfaction and Longevity: Longitudinal Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 453-472, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:15:y:2014:i:4:p:453-472
    DOI: 10.1111/geer.12024
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    Cited by:

    1. Binder, Martin & Buenstorf, Guido, 2018. "Smile or die: Can subjective well-being increase survival in the face of substantive health impairments?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 209-227.
    2. Sarracino, Francesco & Greyling, Talita & O'Connor , Kelsey & Peroni, Chiara & Rossouw, Stephanie, 2021. "A year of pandemic: levels, changes and validity of well-being data from Twitter. Evidence from ten countries," GLO Discussion Paper Series 831, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Christoph K. Becker & Stefan T. Trautmann, 2022. "Does Happiness Increase in Old Age? Longitudinal Evidence from 20 European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3625-3654, October.
    4. Hui Foh Foong & Sook Yee Lim & Roshanim Koris & Sharifah Azizah Haron, 2021. "Time-Use and Mental Health in Older Adults: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-21, April.

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