And often the people who do stuff like volunteer live longer than people who don’t.
This is a correlation, which may not truly imply causation.
For example, I think it’s pretty well-established that sedentary people don’t live as long as people who are active. But if a person is a sedentary type, they’ll probably make different post-retirement choices than an active type of person. So, when you look at the studies that make conclusions based on volunteering, the results may appear to show a difference, but they might only show the same difference we already know about sedentary vs. active types of people.
Ditto for church attendance leading to longevity, but only because unhealthy people can’t make it in.
That said, I think the research on leading e a life with purpose and social connections as having better outcomes is fairly robust. Plenty of seniors kill themselves within a few years of retirement.
Once people retire they often create their own work to do. And often the people who do stuff like volunteer live longer than people who don’t.
People like doing work, but they don’t like being exploited.
This is a correlation, which may not truly imply causation.
For example, I think it’s pretty well-established that sedentary people don’t live as long as people who are active. But if a person is a sedentary type, they’ll probably make different post-retirement choices than an active type of person. So, when you look at the studies that make conclusions based on volunteering, the results may appear to show a difference, but they might only show the same difference we already know about sedentary vs. active types of people.
Ditto for church attendance leading to longevity, but only because unhealthy people can’t make it in.
That said, I think the research on leading e a life with purpose and social connections as having better outcomes is fairly robust. Plenty of seniors kill themselves within a few years of retirement.