In the busyness of modern life, our social lives often sit on the back-burner as we deal with play dates, work deadlines and life admin.
But maybe that’s not such as good idea after all, as new research shows just how vital our friends are to our overall happiness, finding that having an active social life that includes participating in events and having social goals can keep up our overall wellbeing as we age. Sounds fun to us!
The study showed that, despite issues such as ongoing health problems, our older companions that made the effort to say in touch were happier in later life.
The study conducted by Humboldt University in Berlin examined data from 2,900 deceased individuals (with 74 being the average age they passed away) from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, looking into how they rated their wellbeing on the scale of 0-10.
The sample rated how satisfied they felt in their lives, how often they took part in social activities - and how important this was to them - and how frequently they visited family members, and how much they valued those relationships.
Surprisingly, the research team found that social activity was closely linked to wellbeing later in life but family relationships were not – strange! Not to say you should cancel on dinner with dad just yet…
Study author, Gert Wagner from the German Institute for Economic Research, put the lack of family influence down to the complexity of family relations. Friends, however are people you mostly choose to be in your life, and can more easily dismiss if they’re not the right fit.
Regardless of age, gender, education and health, friendship still came out top trump as being the most likely to lead us to happiness as we reach our later years. Hurrah!
Wagner said:
"A socially engaged lifestyle often involves cognitive stimulation and physical activity, which in turn may protect against the neurological and physical factors underlying cognitive decline.
“Our results indicate that social orientation is related to maintaining well-being for as long as possible into the very last years of life."
And another 2011 study also proved that higher levels of social engagement and activity improved our cognition function as we age, and attending events surrounded by people were as good for our noggins as sitting down with a puzzle. Take that sudoku!
So there you have it, it's the perfect excuse to invite the girls round for wine and get in the habit of it. It’s for your wellbeing, after all…