I’ve written numerous times previously about the importance of purpose to our work.  For instance, last year I covered a paper by researchers showing that not only are we more productive, but we tend to earn more when we have purpose in our work.

A recent study from researchers at Washington University at St. Louis found that purpose can have a similar impact on our health.

“Our analysis found that participants’ sense of purpose was positively associated with their reports of both vigorous and moderate activity, vegetable intake, flossing, and sleep quality,” the authors say.

Why purpose matters

The researchers analyzed data from the Hawaii Longitudinal Study of Personality and Health, with a particular focus on a diverse group of nearly 750 people with an average age of 60.  The data had been tracking participants since they were children, with contact made every two years.  The data revealed a pronounced boost to a range of metrics when someone had purpose in their life.

“Participants reporting a higher sense of purpose also reported a greater likelihood to enact all health behaviors of interest and higher self-rated health,” the authors say. “Overall, these findings point to the importance of considering healthy lifestyle habits as a prominent explanation for why purposeful individuals experience better health outcomes.”

The researchers were particularly keen to explore whether purpose had an impact on health independent of that given by the ‘big five’ personality traits.  Each participant was measured for their sense of purpose along with both self-reported health and health behaviors.

Healthy living

Healthy living was defined across a number of questions, from diet, sleep patterns, dental hygiene and exercise regimes.  When the analysis was complete, the impact purpose had was clear and noticeable, both on self-rated health and on individual health behaviors.

“Participants who reported a higher sense of purpose also reported greater strenuous and moderate activity, likelihood to eat vegetables and floss, as well as better quality sleep,” the authors explain. “All of these associations held even when controlling for the Big Five personality traits, with the exception of flossing behavior.”

The authors believe their findings provide clear evidence that having purpose in life can bring a multitude of benefits to life.  They suggest this is largely due to the impact it has on self-regulatory capacity and on numerous specific behaviors, whether in terms of diet, sleep quality, physical activity or other aspects of self-care.

The team plan next to delve into the data more thoroughly and explore whether it’s the sense of purpose that drives the healthy behaviors, or vice versa.  It will be interesting to follow their work though nonetheless.

“These caveats aside,” they conclude, “the findings again support the case that a purpose-driven life may also be a healthier life.”