If, Why, and When Subjective Well-Being Influences Health, and Future Needed Research

Abstract

We review evidence on whether subjective well-being (SWB) can influence health, why it might do so, and what we know about the conditions where this is more or less likely to occur. This review also explores how various methodological approaches inform the study of the connections between subjective well-being and health and longevity outcomes. Our review of this growing literature indicates areas where data are substantial and where much more research is needed. We conclude that SWB can sometimes influence health, and review a number of reasons why it does so. A key open question is when it does and does not do so -in terms of populations likely to be affected, types of SWB that are most influential (including which might be harmful), and types of health and illnesses that are most likely to be affected. We also describe additional types of research that are now much needed in this burgeoning area of interest, for example, cross-cultural studies, animal research, and experimental interventions designed to raise long-term SWB and assess the effects on physical health. This research area is characterized both by potentially extremely important findings, and also by pivotal research issues and questions.

Subjective Well‐Being and Health Behaviors in 2.5 Million Americans

“…Those with higher well‐being are then more satisfied with their lives, have higher levels of PA, and lower levels of NA. Evidence from a growing number of longitudinal, ambulatory, and experimental studies suggests that these facets of subjective well‐being are causal factors in better physical health (Diener, Pressman, Hunter, & Delgadillo‐Chase, ; Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, ). Happier people tend to live longer (Diener & Chan, ) and to have better cardiovascular health (Boehm, Vie, & Kubzansky, ) and stronger immune systems (Marsland, Cohen, Rabin, & Manuck, ).…”

Are happy people healthier? An instrumental variable approach using data from Greece

“…As pointed above, this strong association can be explained on the basis of several transmission channels. First, there are physiological mechanisms, which indicate that happiness is beneficial for several systems of the human body, such as cardiovascular, immune and endocrine systems 8. Second, happy individuals tend to adopt healthy behaviours, and avoid unhealthy lifestyle.…”

“…After stratifying the sample by educational level or SES, we find that happiness significantly influences SRH in low-SES individuals, but this association wanes for the higher socioeconomic strata. A recent review noted that research findings might be moderated by the population that is studied, and there may thus be differences in the relationship between happiness and health across different population groups 8. For instance, a study found that anger is linked with subclinical atherosclerosis in low-SES individuals, but this is not the case for high-SES ones 13.…”

“…In particular, happier people generally adopt a more health-promoting lifestyle, since they exercise more regularly, and are more likely to avoid smoking, drinking or unhealthy diet 7. Diener et al 8 named the aforementioned as ‘mediators of this relationship’8 (further details are presented in online supplementary figure A1). …”

“…Several studies have indeed found that age, sex and ethnicity might be moderators of this relationship 8. There is, however, little and inadequate evidence about the potential moderating role of socioeconomic variables, which is either focused on specific health conditions,13 or relies on aggregate data and cross-country comparisons 14…”