Having a Happy Spouse Is Associated with Lowered Risk of Mortality Discussion In this paper, strike a balance between reviewing and summarizing, critiquing

Having a Happy Spouse Is Associated with Lowered Risk of Mortality Discussion In this paper, strike a balance between reviewing and summarizing, critiquing the ideas that were presented, and providing your own ideas and interpretations. 835147
research-article2019
PSSXXX10.1177/0956797619835147StavrovaLife Satisfaction and Mortality
ASSOCIATION FOR
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Short Report
Having a Happy Spouse Is Associated
With Lowered Risk of Mortality
Psychological Science
2019, Vol. 30(5) 798­–803
© The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797619835147
DOI: 10.1177/0956797619835147
www.psychologicalscience.org/PS
Olga Stavrova
Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University
Abstract
Studies have shown that individuals’ choice of a life partner predicts their life outcomes, from their relationship
satisfaction to their career success. The present study examined whether the reach of one’s spouse extends even further,
to the ultimate life outcome: mortality. A dyadic survival analysis using a representative sample of elderly couples
(N = 4,374) followed for up to 8 years showed that a 1-standard-deviation-higher level of spousal life satisfaction was
associated with a 13% lower mortality risk. This effect was robust to controlling for couples’ socioeconomic situation
(e.g., household income), both partners’ sociodemographic characteristics, and baseline health. Exploratory mediation
analyses pointed toward partner and actor physical activity as sequential mediators. These findings suggest that life
satisfaction has not only intrapersonal but also interpersonal associations with longevity and contribute to the fields of
epidemiology, positive psychology, and relationship research.
Keywords
life satisfaction, mortality, dyadic analyses, couples, open materials
Received 8/2/18; Revision accepted 12/30/18
Research has consistently shown that life satisfaction is
associated with longevity (for a review, see Diener &
Chan, 2011). For example, meta-analyses of long-term
prospective studies have shown that higher life satisfaction predicts lower risk of mortality over decades (Chida
& Steptoe, 2008). Although this literature has demonstrated an intrapersonal effect of life satisfaction (i.e.,
an effect of an individual’s life satisfaction on that individual’s mortality), it is less clear whether life satisfaction has interpersonal effects as well. In particular, does
an individual’s life satisfaction affect the mortality risk
of his or her spouse?
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated the importance of contextual characteristics (e.g., neighborhood
characteristics; Bosma, Dike van de Mheen, Borsboom,
& Mackenbach, 2001) for individuals’ longevity. Adopting
the interpersonal perspective (Zayas, Shoda, & Ayduk,
2002), I propose that the characteristics (e.g., life satisfaction) of the people who are close to an individual can
also make up that person’s context and, potentially,
affect his or her life outcomes. For example, life satisfaction has been associated with healthy behaviors such
as physical exercise (Kim, Kubzansky, Soo, & Boehm,
2017). Given that spouses tend to affect each other’s
lifestyle ( Jackson, Steptoe, & Wardle, 2015), having a
happy spouse might increase one’s likelihood of engaging in healthy behaviors. In addition, happiness has been
associated with helping behavior (O’Malley & Andrews,
1983). Hence, having a happy partner might be related
to experiencing support from that partner and, consequently, might improve one’s health and longevity.
Indeed, a recent study found that spousal life satisfaction was associated with individuals’ self-rated health
(Chopik & O’Brien, 2017), although such interpersonal
effects were not detected for doctor-diagnosed chronic
conditions (Chopik & O’Brien, 2017) or for inflammation
markers (Uchino et al., 2018). None of the existing studies
have explored whether spousal life satisfaction predicts
individuals’ mortality. The present research examined this
question using panel data of approximately 4,400 elderly
couples in the United States. In addition, a set of
Corresponding Author:
Olga Stavrova, Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University,
Warandelaan 2, 5000 LE, Tilburg, The Netherlands
E-mail: O.Stavrova@uvt.nl
Life Satisfaction and Mortality
exploratory mediation analyses tested the role of partner
support as well as partner and actor physical activity as
potential mechanisms for such an association.
Finally, it is possible that the level of spousal life
satisfaction per se matters much less than the extent to
which it is similar to individuals’ own life satisfaction.
A growing body of research has underscored the level
of congruence between partners’ dispositional characteristics as an important factor for their relationship and
life outcomes (Dyrenforth, Kashy, Donnellan, & Lucas,
2010). Therefore, in an additional set of analyses, I
explored whether the level of actor-partner similarity
in life satisfaction was associated with actor mortality.
Method
Participants
The data for this study came from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/), a
nationally representative panel study of American
adults ages 50 and older and their spouses. It is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (Grant No. NIA
U01AG009740) and is conducted by the University of
Michigan. HRS is particularly well suited for the present
investigation because it collects data from both spouses.
Starting in 2006, the study has included a measure of
life satisfaction, as part of a self-report questionnaire
that participants are asked to complete on their own
and return by mail. For one half of the sample, life satisfaction was first measured in 2006, and for the other
half, it was first measured in 2008. These data were
combined into a baseline assessment. I selected participants who had a spouse or a live-in partner at baseline
(95.7% of the participants who had a live-in partner
were officially married).1 After I removed cases with
missing values on key variables (actor life satisfaction,
partner life satisfaction, survival time), the final sample
consisted of 8,748 individuals (mean age at baseline =
67.17, SD = 9.75; 50.0% male). This sample size was large
enough for even small effects to be detected with 80%
power (at α = .05). Of the 4,374 couples, 99.5% were
heterosexual. Data from participants who remained alive
throughout the observation period (n = 6,643) or were
lost to follow-up (n = 656) were censored.2
The data and materials for HRS can be accessed at its
Website (http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/). The computer
code for the analyses reported here can be accessed at
the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/geq9x/).
Measures
Life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was measured with
the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen,
& Griffin, 1985). This scale includes five items (e.g., “I am
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satisfied with my life”). Because a 6-point response scale
was used in 2006 and a 7-point response scale was used
in 2008 (both scales ranged from strongly disagree to
strongly agree), I rescaled the responses to range from 1
to 10.3 The scale had good reliability (2006 subsample:
α = .89; 2008 subsample: α = .88). The analyses included
both partner and actor life satisfaction.
Mortality. The HRS data set included information on
participants’ vital status (1 = deceased, 0 = alive) through
December 2014. This information came from the National
Death Index (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2017), the spouse’s report, or both. Survival time was
computed in months, starting from the month of the
baseline interview and ending with death or censoring
(in December 2014).
Additional variables. Perceived partner support was
measured by participants’ ratings of the extent to which
their partners provided them with social support (seven
items; e.g., “How much can you rely on [your partner] if
you have a serious problem?” “How much can you open
up to [your partner] if you need to talk about your worries?” “How much does [your partner] let you down when
you are counting on him/her?”; all items are provided in
the Supplemental Material available online). Responses
were given on a 4-point scale (1 = a lot, 4 = not at all)
and were recoded such that higher values reflected stronger support. Each person’s recoded responses were then
averaged (2006 subsample: α = .82; 2008 subsample: α =
.84).
Actor and partner physical activity were assessed
with two questions. Both partners indicated how often
they engaged in vigorous activities (e.g., jogging,
cycling, digging with a spade or shovel) and moderately
energetic activities (e.g., gardening, cleaning the car,
walking at a moderate pace, dancing). Responses to
both questions were given on a 4-point scale (1 = more
than once a week, 2 = once a week, 3 = one to three
times a month, 4 = hardly ever or never) and were
recoded such that higher values reflected higher frequency. The frequencies of vigorous and moderately
energetic activity were related to each other (r = .36,
p .57).
The only terms with significant effects were the linear
terms of actor life satisfaction (HR = 0.85, 95% CI = [0.79,
0.92], p