If you want to increase you odds of living, or dying for that matter, change your social behavior. New research has just emerged showing a dirrect link between social interaction and life expectancy.
Professors from Brigham Young University found that having social connections decreases your chances of dying by 50%. These results also show that lacking social connections plays a greater role in causing death then more well known causes such as smoking, alcoholism, obesity and not exercising. “When someone is connected to a group and feels responsibility for other people, that sense of purpose and meaning translates to taking better care of themselves and taking fewer risks,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, one of the authors. “We take relationships for granted as humans — we’re like fish that don’t notice the water,” co-author Timothy Smith said. “That constant interaction is not only beneficial psychologically but directly to our physical health.” The researchers also pointed out that the death rate probably decreases by even more than 50% in reality. “The data simply show whether they were integrated in a social network,” Holt-Lunstad said. “That means the effects of negative relationships are lumped in there with the positive ones. They are all averaged together.” Information Source: PLoS Medicine