Personality and the leading behavioral contributors of mortality.

Abstract

Objective Personality traits predict both health behaviors and mortality risk across the life course. However, there are few investigations that have examined these effects in a single study. Thus, there are limitations in assessing if health behaviors explain why personality predicts health and longevity. Method Utilizing 14-year mortality data from a national sample of over 6,000 adults from the Midlife in the United States Study, we tested whether alcohol use, smoking behavior, and waist circumference mediated the personality–mortality association. Results After adjusting for demographic variables, higher levels of Conscientiousness predicted a 13% reduction in mortality risk over the follow-up. Structural equation models provided evidence that heavy drinking, smoking, and greater waist circumference significantly mediated the Conscientiousness–mortality association by 42%. Conclusion The current study provided empirical support for the health-behavior model of personality— Conscientiousness influences the behaviors persons engage in and these behaviors affect the likelihood of poor health outcomes. Findings highlight the usefulness of assessing mediation in a structural equation modeling framework when testing proportional hazards. In addition, the current findings add to the growing literature that personality traits can be used to identify those at risk for engaging in behaviors that deteriorate health and shorten the life span.

Whole Trait Theory

“…Evidence for the Big 5 includes strong cross-questionnaire (Costa & McCrae, 2006) and cross-cultural replicability (Saucier, 2009). Traits matter to important outcomes (Duckworth, Weir, Tsukayama, & Kwok, 2012; Ozer & Benet-Martínez, 2006; Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi, & Goldberg, 2007; Turiano, Chapman, Gruenewald, & Mroczek, 2013), and observers agree about Big 5 levels of targets (Vazire, 2010). …”

Personality predicts mortality risk: An integrative data analysis of 15 international longitudinal studies

“…Second, to what extent do health-detrimental or health-promoting factors mediate the personality-mortality association? There has been some work on such mediation models (Mroczek, Spiro, & Turiano, 2009; Turiano, Chapman, Gruenewald, & Mroczek, 2015), but never in a large-scale, multiple-study context. This study addressed both of these questions, and did so using a novel methodological framework designed to enhance replicability: Coordinated Analysis.…”

Personality and Body Weight

“…This interest led to numerous replications that indicate that higher Conscientiousness is associated with living a longer life (Chapman, Fiscella, Kawachi, & Duberstein, 2010; Jokela, Batty, et al, 2013; Kern & Friedman, 2008; Terracciano, Löckenhoff, Zonderman, Ferrucci, & Costa, 2008). This robust association between Conscientiousness and longevity further led to identifying behavioral (Turiano, Chapman, Gruenewald, & Mroczek, 2015) and physiological (Hampson, Edmonds, Goldberg, Dubanoski, & Hillier, 2013) mechanisms that explain this association. In tandem with this growing evidence base, there has been a shift in focus toward intermediate conditions or diseases that are potential targets of intervention and are of relevance to the health and quality of the individual’s life.…”