Benefits of Religious Faith
Believers can add longevity to the list of benefits often ascribed to religious faith. According to recent research of data involving 1,600 individuals, those whose religious status indicated they were religious were found to have lived an average 6.48 years longer than those who did not profess to believe in God. This finding led researchers to conclude that religious affiliation may have as much of an effect on longevity as gender does. (U.S. women tend to live about an average 6.5 years longer than U.S. men.) While the gender discrepancy in longevity may be attributed to a number of biological and cultural factors, the longevity difference between believers and atheists may be explained by belief in something greater than ourselves.
P.S. Generally speaking, people with a sense of purpose and connection to others tend to live longer.
