Purpose in life predicts both health and longevity suggesting that the ability to find meaning from life’s experiences, especially when confronting life’s challenges, may be a mechanism underlying resilience. Having purpose in life may motivate reframing stressful situations to deal with them more productively, thereby facilitating recovery from stress and trauma. In turn, enhanced ability to recover from negative events may allow a person to achieve or maintain a feeling of greater purpose in life over time. In a large sample of adults (aged 36-84 years) from the MIDUS study (Midlife in the U.S., http://www.midus.wisc.edu/), we tested whether purpose in life was associated with better emotional recovery following exposure to negative picture stimuli indexed by the magnitude of the eyeblink startle reflex (EBR), a measure sensitive to emotional state. We differentiated between initial emotional reactivity (during stimulus presentation) and emotional recovery (occurring after stimulus offset). Greater purpose in life, assessed over two years prior, predicted better recovery from negative stimuli indexed by a smaller eyeblink after negative pictures offset, even after controlling for initial reactivity to the stimuli during the picture presentation, gender, age, trait affect, and other well-being dimensions. These data suggest a proximal mechanism by which purpose in life may afford protection from negative events and confer resilience is through enhanced automatic emotion regulation after negative emotional provocation.

To investigate whether psychosocial factors (i.e., depression, anxiety, and well-being) moderated educational gradients in interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels using data from the Survey of Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS). The influences of educational attainment and psychosocial factors on IL-6 in middle aged and older adults were also examined. Telephone interviews and mail surveys were utilized to collect educational attainment and psychosocial information from respondents (N = 1028). Respondents also participated in an overnight clinic visit, during which health information and a fasting blood sample were obtained. Serum levels of IL-6. Greater educational attainment predicted lower levels of IL-6 independent of age and gender, although this effect was attenuated after taking health behaviors, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and chronic illnesses into account. Psychological well-being interacted with education to predict IL-6, such that for those with less education, higher well-being was associated with lower levels of IL-6. The findings indicate a strong association between education and inflammation, which can be further moderated by psychosocial factors. The health benefits associated with psychological well-being were particularly evident for individuals with low educational attainment.

Individuals with lower social status have been reported to express more anger, but this evidence comes mostly from Western cultures. Here, we used representative samples of American and Japanese adults and tested the hypothesis that the association between social status and anger expression depends on whether anger serves primarily to vent frustration, as in the United States, or to display authority, as in Japan. Consistent with the assumption that lower social standing is associated with greater frustration stemming from life adversities and blocked goals, Americans with lower social status expressed more anger, with the relationship mediated by the extent of frustration. In contrast, consistent with the assumption that higher social standing affords a privilege to display anger, Japanese with higher social status expressed more anger, with the relationship mediated by decision-making authority. As expected, anger expression was predicted by subjective social status among Americans and by objective social status among Japanese. Implications for the dynamic construction of anger and anger expression are discussed.

Objectives Psychological well-being predicts favorable cardiovascular outcomes, but less evidence addresses biological mediators underlying these effects. Therefore, associations among well-being and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) were examined in a national sample. Methods Survey of Midlife in the US participants (MIDUS; n = 1205) provided survey assessments of hedonic (positive affect, life satisfaction) and eudaimonic well-being (e.g., personal growth and purpose in life) at two waves 9 to 10 years apart. MetSyn components were measured during an overnight clinic visit at Time 2 only. Outcomes included the number of MetSyn risk factors and a binary outcome reflective of MetSyn status. Results The unadjusted prevalence of MetSyn was 36.6%. Life satisfaction (B [standard error {SE}] = −0.12 [0.04], p = .005), positive affect (B [SE] = −0.10 [0.04], p = .009), and personal growth (B [SE] = −0.10 [0.04], p = .012) predicted fewer MetSyn components and lower risk of meeting diagnostic criteria in fully adjusted models. Results were unchanged by adjustments for depressive symptoms, and were not moderated by age, sex, race, or socioeconomic status. Life satisfaction (B [SE] = −0.11 [0.05], p = .023) and a eudaimonic well-being composite (B [SE] = −0.11 [0.05], p = .045) also predicted fewer components and lower risk of meeting diagnostic criteria in longitudinal models. Conclusions Psychosocial resources, including positive affect, life satisfaction, and personal growth, predicted reduced risk for MetSyn both cross sectionally and longitudinally. Further work should examine consequences of these linkages for cardiovascular outcomes in intervention contexts.