People who have a sense of purpose in life may live longer, according to a recent study.

New research from investigators at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York and Carlton University in Canada suggests there are clear implications for promoting positive aging and adult development.

"Our findings point to the fact that finding a direction for life, and setting overarching goals for what you want to achieve can help you actually live longer, regardless of when you find your purpose," Patrick Hill, lead researcher of the study, said in a statement. "So the earlier someone comes to a direction for life, the earlier these protective effects may be able to occur."

For the study, researchers looked at data from more than 6,000 participants focusing on their self-reported purpose in life and other psychosocial variables that gauged their positive relations with others and their experience of positive and negative emotions.

Based on their findings, greater purpose in life consistently predicted lower mortality risk across the lifespan, showing the same benefit for younger, middle-aged, and older participants across the follow-up period.

"There are a lot of reasons to believe that being purposeful might help protect older adults more so than younger ones," Hill said. "For instance, adults might need a sense of direction more, after they have left the workplace and lost that source for organizing their daily events. In addition, older adults are more likely to face mortality risks than younger adults."

Purpose had similar benefits for adults regardless of retirement status, a known mortality risk factor. And the longevity benefits of purpose in life held even after other indicators of psychological well-being, such as positive relations and positive emotions, were taken into account.

"These findings suggest that there's something unique about finding a purpose that seems to be leading to greater longevity," Hill said.

The findings were recently published in the journal Psychological Science.