35%

Reduction in risk of death in the happiest people, compared with the least happy, in a study of 3,853 adults aged 52 to 79. Unlike earlier research examining the link between happiness and longevity, the new study didn't just ask people to remember how happy they generally were; rather they were asked to rate their happiness on a scale of 1 to 4 at four specific points in a single day (7 a.m., 7 p.m., and a half-hour after each). Researchers found that people's happiness ratings strongly predicted their odds of being alive five years later, even after controlling for factors like age, gender, health, wealth, education and marital status. Overall, the study author said, people were less happy when they woke up, and happiest at 7 p.m. [via USA Today]