People aged 50 and older who have a strong sense of purpose in life are likely to have longer lives than their peers, according to a University of Michigan study published recently in JAMA Network Open.

The study’s authors believe that purposefulness — which they define as “a self-organizing life aim that stimulates goals” — has health benefits and should be consider a modifiable risk factor for premature death.

“We found a strong association between life purpose and mortality in the U.S.,” said Celeste Leigh Pearce, the study’s lead author and an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan, in an interview with Reuters reporter Linda Caroll. “This has also been found in a number of studies conducted in a number of populations and seems to be quite a robust association.”

The link between low life-purpose scores and early mortality was only for deaths caused by diseases of the heart and digestive system. No association was found for deaths caused by cancer or respiratory tract illnesses.

The study was not designed to figure out why having a strong life purpose might extend life. But Pearce and her co-authors note that other research has shown that a stronger purpose in life is associated with lower levels of molecules known as cytokines. High levels of cytokines are known to promote inflammation, including in the heart and blood vessels.