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People who are organised and thorough may live longer lives than those who are careless, a new study has suggested.
The study, which linked personality traits to mortality, found those with “conscientious” personality traits are linked to a 15 per cent lower risk of mortality.
Researchers looked at five core personality traits across 22,000 participants and measured their mortality. They found that those who fell under the banner of having “conscientiousness” traits were linked to a lower risk of death. These included organised people, who have a 14 per cent lower risk of mortality, and responsible people, who have a 12 per cent lower risk. Those who were hardworking and thorough saw a 15 per cent lower risk.
The study found that being active, lively and helpful were also related to a lower mortality risk. Meanwhile, neurotic, worry-prone personality traits were linked to a higher risk.
However, one of the authors of the study, Professor René Mõttus, from The University of Edinburgh, told The Independent, the study results indicate people could change their personality traits to improve mortality risk.
He said: “We found that it is often these specific personality traits, nuances, that drive personality’s associations with mortality.”
“It stands to reason that these personality nuances are easier to change than broad trait domains such as neuroticism or conscientiousness. So, our findings offer hope.”
The report, published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, said the extraversion trait of being “active” – which refers to an individual’s energy, vigor, fast tempo, and engagement with life – was “the strongest item-level predictor of mortality.”
Those with higher neuroticism – specifically moody, worry-prone, nervous, and less calm behaviours – may have a higher risk of mortality because they have a higher instance of disease, higher Body Mass Index and and higher risk of smoking.
In comparison, those who are more conscientious, the study said, are more likely to have healthier life choices such as better health management, higher self-discipline, responsibility and higher playfulness.
The report said: “The present study found that being organised, responsible, and active were among the items with stronger associations with the risk of mortality. Therefore, it is likely that similar specific personality characteristics may be predictive of different health-related outcomes, such as dementia, BMI, and mortality risk.”
The study asked participants to fill out a questionnaire and tracked their mortality between six and 28 years. Researchers did not find any link between agreeableness and mortality.
It said “significant but small associations” were found between traits such as creative, broad-minded and adventurous and a lower mortality risk.”
Scores for outgoing, friendly, lively, and active were associated respectively with an 8 per cent, 4 per cent, 12 per cent, and 27 per cent lower risk of mortality.
Páraic O’Súilleabháin, report co-author and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Limerick in Ireland, also told The Guardian: “What our research does suggest is that personality could play a supporting role – one that’s underestimated in medicine and public health.”
He added: “Being ‘organised’ might help people stick to routines that improve health, but it may also reflect underlying psychological resilience or social habits that contribute to a longer life.”
