Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Ha Ha, Being Happy Doesn't Mean You'll Live Longer
By
Lauren Evans
Published Dec 11, 2015
Modified Dec 11, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Lauren Evans
Published Dec 11, 2015
Modified Dec 11, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
There's this idea that leading a miserable life will somehow result in an early death, which makes sense. Sad people tend to shrivel like raisins from all the scowling and defeated hunching, and they do say that a broken heart can prove fatal. But no, a study from the medical journal The Lancet finds that contrary to anecdotal reasoning, the crotchety among us will hang on just as long as that guy on your corner always telling you to smile.
The study followed one million middle aged women from 1996 to 2001, tracking them with questionnaires that probed their levels of happiness and relaxation, and also asked them to report maladies like high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, arthritis and depression or anxiety.
The conclusion was: "In middle-aged women, poor health can cause unhappiness. After allowing for this association and adjusting for potential confounders, happiness and related measures of wellbeing do not appear to have any direct effect on mortality."
Still, the Times points out that self-assessments are unreliable, and that most humans experience emotions with slightly more nuance than "happy" and "unhappy."
“I would have liked to see more discussion of how people translate these complicated feelings into a self-report of happiness,” Baruch Fischhoff, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University, told the paper. “Think about everything that’s going on in your life and tell me how happy you are. Happiness is a squishy measure.”
The best line, though, is this: "When the answers were analyzed statistically, unhappiness and stress were not associated with an increased risk of death. It is not clear whether the findings apply to men."
Tagged
happiness
sadness
science
studies
Lauren Evans
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 22, 2026
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
Highlights of shifts in the city's business landscape.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
Highlights of shifts in the city's business landscape.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
By
Sonia Rao
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .