Getting regular exercise, following a well-balanced diet, and prioritizing sleep can prolong longevity from a physical health standpoint. But what about our emotional health? How we think, how we feel, and how we act impacts all areas of our lives, including how we view and treat not only ourselves but others. And while you don’t need to be in a long-term, serious relationship to live a happy, fulfilled life, research now suggests that men, in particular, could benefit from having a lifelong partner.
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According to a 2024 study published in the journal International Social Work, married men are four times more likely to experience “successful aging” than their single male counterparts. Data shows that marital status plays an integral role in determining one’s physical health, mental health, and social well-being, especially among men.
“Little is known about the relationship between marital trajectories in old age and successful aging. Our goal was to see whether different marital trajectories were associated with physical health and well-being, and whether these relationships varied for men and women,” explained social work doctoral graduate and lead author Mabel Ho in a press release, per Study Finds.
For the study, researchers pooled 7,641 participants, aged 60 and older, from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), who met all four sets of “aging successfully” criteria. These categories included physical wellness, psychological and emotional wellness, social wellness, and self-rated wellness.
“Successful agers” didn’t have limitations or chronic pain when it came to exercise, nor did they have a history of depression, anxiety, memory problems, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). By “having someone to confide in or talk to about themselves or their problems at least most of the time,” their social wellness was considered healthy and intact. Additionally, these participants had “‘good’ to ‘excellent’ self-rated aging process.”
From there, the 7,641 respondents were split into seven different groups based on marital status: (1) never-married, (2) continuously married, (3) continuously widowed, (4) continuously divorced or separated, (5) from not married to married, (6) from married to not married, and (7) other changes.
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Of the surveyed participants, 70 percent were considered “successful agers.” However, if you were to compare the data by marital status among the men, most successful agers were married or newly married. Thus, it suggests that love could be the secret key to longevity.
“Continuously married or newly married older adults had a higher rate of successful aging than their never-married, widowed, divorced, or separated counterparts,” the study authors wrote.
To put it into numbers, men who were continuously married or became married were about 3.8 times more likely to experience “successful aging” than single men.
“Previous studies have shown that marriage is associated with better health outcomes for both men and women, while men who were never married generally had the poorest health outcomes,” said University of Toronto professor David Burnes, who also serves as research chair at the college’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.
More research is needed to better understand the correlation between marital status and longevity, but Burnes theorizes that the results are closely related to the benefits of companionship.
“It may be that married people encourage each other to adopt or maintain positive health behaviors such as quitting smoking or exercising regularly,” he reasoned.
