If you’re happy and you know it, maybe you really should clap your hands. Th

If you’re happy and you know it, maybe you really should clap your hands. That’s because being happy might make you live longer.
    Researchers found that happy people reduced their risk of(36)premature death by as much 35 percent.
    Unlike other " happiness" studies that(37)rely on a participant’s long-term recall of(38)emotional states, the researchers used a technique called Ecological Momentary Assessment, which gives a quick(39)picture of what a person is feeling in real time.
    In this study, the nearly 4,000 participants, ages 52 to 79, were asked to rate their feelings of happiness or anxiety on a(40)gliding scale four times over the course of one day, beginning when they woke up in the morning. The scientists then followed them for five years,(41)recording the number of deaths during that time.
    After controlling for age,(42)gender, depression, certain diseases like cancer or diabetes(糖尿病), and health-related(43)behaviors like smoking, study results showed that those folks who rated their feelings of happiness higher lived longer than those with lower scores.
    "(44)Older people have needs that we in society try to supply like good healthcare and enough money to live on," says lead author Andrew Steptoe, professor of epidemiology and psychology. " But maybe we should pay attention to their well being in terms of happiness, too. "
    Other researchers who study that sometimes complicated state of well being known as happiness say the study is significant. "I hope they continue to follow this group out to 10 years and 15 years," says Stephen Post, professor of preventive medicine at Stony Brook University.(46)Since he believes the mortality gap between the happy and the sad may become even bigger.