Scientific Proof That Reading Is the Secret to a Longer Life
Yale University is home to a lot of smart people. The students and staff there have intelligence to spare. So the school was the perfect place to study a possible link between reading and improved longevity.
The results were published in the September 2016 issue of the Social Science and Medicine journal. Unlike some studies and bodies of research, this was an in-depth undertaking. Information was gathered from more than 3,600 participants who were all 50 or older.
The volunteers belonged to one of three different groups. The first group were non-readers. These were people that said they didn’t read. They may have to deal with a few written words at work, but other than that, they did no voluntary reading.
A second group comprised people who read up to 3.5 hours each week. Finally, the third group consistently read more than that amount.
Here’s where the researchers got really dedicated. They only chose volunteers willing to seriously stick to their previous reading habits. They also wanted people that would provide information in the future. The researchers kept in touch with these readers and non-readers for 12 years. Here’s what they found.
📌 The two groups of readers outlived the non-readers on average.
📌 The people that read the most, more than 3.5 hours per week (an average of 30 minutes per day), lived nearly 2 full years longer than the non-readers.
📌 Reading meant a longer life regardless of gender, wealth, race, and education.
How Does the Simple Act of Reading Make Someone Live Longer?
The Yale researchers found that regular reading improves two different processes (among others) – 1) deep reading and 2) emotional connection.
Deep reading is what a reader goes through when they attempt to make context out of what they read. It helps readers better understand themselves and their world while reducing stress and boosting important survival skills.
Emotional connection happens when the reader identifies with the characters in a book or story. This improves the ability of the reader to form important social connections in the real world. It also elevates emotional intelligence and improves relationships.
Focus, memory recall, and other cognitive functions improve. It is in these ways that regular reading can help you enjoy a longer life. For those of us who love to read, living longer is enticing because it means we get to read more.
