Category: Personality

The Personality Trait Linked To Looking Younger

People high on this personality trait look younger and are able to walk faster.

People high on this personality trait look younger and are able to walk faster.

Self-control is linked to aging more slowly, a study finds.

People who are better able to control their thoughts, feelings and behaviours have biologically younger brains and bodies at age 45.

This means that people with higher self-control look younger and are able to walk faster.

Those who find themselves somewhat lacking in self-control, though, should not despair.

Self-control is not set in stone and can be learned.

In addition, midlife is not too late to make changes like starting to exercise and quitting smoking.

The conclusions come from a study of almost 1,000 people in New Zealand who were tracked from birth.

The aim of the study was to see whether self-control helped people prepare for old age.

Dr Richmond-Rakerd, the study’s first author, explained:

“Our population is growing older, and living longer with age-related diseases.

It’s important to identify ways to help individuals prepare successfully for later-life challenges, and live more years free of disability.

We found that self-control in early life may help set people up for healthy aging.”

The people in the study were tracked from around the age of 3-years-old until they were 45.

As children their self-control was measured and as adults their brains and bodies were tested for physiological signs of aging.

The results revealed that people with higher self-control as children walked faster, had younger looking faces and healthier bodies overall as adults.

Professor Terrie Moffitt, study co-author, said:

“Everyone fears an old age that’s sickly, poor, and lonely, so aging well requires us to get prepared, physically, financially, and socially.

We found people who have used self-control since childhood are far more prepared for aging than their same-age peers.”

Improve your self-control

There are a variety of science-backed ways to improve your self-control.

These include positive affirmations, keeping busy, feeling grateful, abstract thinking, avoiding the ‘license to sin’, and not trying too hard.

→ Here are 10 more studies on what self-control can do for you.

→ Read on: How to change your personality.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Richmond-Rakerd et al., 2021).

The Most Socially Attractive Personality Trait

What trait people find attractive on first impression and over the long term.

What trait people find attractive on first impression and over the long term.

Optimists are seen as more socially attractive than pessimists, research finds.

But this is just when people meet for the first time and do not know each other.

In long-term relationships, optimists are best matched with other optimists and pessimists get on with both other optimists and pessimists.

In other words, optimists mix well in long-term relationships with everyone, but pessimists can be a downer on other optimists — although they don’t seem to bother other pessimists.

The results come from a study of 248 people who read a series of vignettes that described either optimistic or pessimistic people.

Most people found the optimists more socially attractive.

However, people who were themselves optimists liked the other optimist even more.

On the other hand, people who were pessimists were not quite as keen on the optimist, but still preferred them to the pessimist.

Pessimists also had a sneaky liking for the other pessimist.

The results were more nuanced, though, when people considered their own long-term relationships.

Optimists were more satisfied when in a relationship with another optimist, and pessimists were happy with another pessimist or an optimist.

The authors write:

“…optimists may perceive a pessimistic partner as a burden, which may in turn affect their perceptions of relationship quality negatively.

Interestingly, this was not the case for pessimists, who reported the same levels of relationship quality regardless of whether they perceived their partners as pessimistic or as optimistic.”

The results support a psychological theory about interpersonal attraction called the ‘similarity-attraction hypothesis’.

The study’s authors write:

“Such a similarity attraction effect has been shown to be characteristic in the field of attitudes.

The similarity-attraction hypothesis claims that people tend to perceive others who are similar to themselves as more attractive than dissimilar others.”

The study was published in The Journal of Positive Psychology (Böhm et al., 2010).

The Personality Change That Is A Dementia Warning Sign

The results showed that people whose personality changed in this way were more likely to develop dementia.

The results showed that people whose personality changed in this way were more likely to develop dementia.

Apathy is an early warning sign of dementia in people with cerebrovascular disease, research finds.

Apathy may result from damage to the brain’s white matter, which is primarily used for communication between regions of the brain.

Cerebrovascular disease occurs in around one-in-three older people and is the most common cause of vascular dementia.

Vascular dementia is the next most common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for up to 10 percent of cases.

Older people who show a new lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern are at greater risk of developing dementia, the study found.

Previously it was thought that depression was a warning sign of dementia, but this study does not support that conclusion.

Mr Jonathan Tay, the study’s first author, said:

“There has been a lot of conflicting research on the association between late-life depression and dementia.

Our study suggests that may partially be due to common clinical depression scales not distinguishing between depression and apathy.”

The study included over 450 people from the UK and the Netherlands who were tracked for several years.

The results showed that people whose apathy increased over time were more likely to develop dementia.

Mr Tay said:

“Continued monitoring of apathy may be used to assess changes in dementia risk and inform diagnosis.

Individuals identified as having high apathy, or increasing apathy over time, could be sent for more detailed clinical examinations, or be recommended for treatment.”

The researchers think that similar mechanisms underlie cognition and motivation.

Mr Tay said:

“This implies that apathy is not a risk factor for dementia per se, but rather an early symptom of white matter network damage.

Understanding these relationships better could have major implications for the diagnosis and treatment of patients in the future.”

The study was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (Tay et al., 2020).

Why Women Are More Fearful Of Taking Risks Than Men (M)

One reason women are less likely to take risks with their money or careers.

One reason women are less likely to take risks with their money or careers.

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This Trait Is A Sign Of Good Mental And Physical Health

People with this trait are more likely to be in both good psychological and good physical health.

People with this trait are more likely to be in both good psychological and good physical health.

People with a stronger sense of purpose in life are more likely to live healthily — both mentally and physically.

According to research, the reason may be that purpose in life banishes the natural conflict people experience when trying to make healthy choices.

Purpose in life can come from work, family, a sense of self or other broad aim or goal being pursued.

Feeling purposeful contributes to the feeling that life is meaningful:

  • People who feel life is meaningful are more likely to be in both good psychological and good physical health.
  • People who feel life isn’t meaningful are more likely to be depressed, to require therapy and even feel suicidal.

Dr Yoona Kang, the study’s first author, said:

“Purpose in life has been robustly associated with health in previous studies, but the mechanism through which life purpose may promote healthy living has been unclear.”

For the study, 220 people with sedentary lifestyles answered a survey that asked them how much they agreed with statements like:

  • “I have a sense of direction and purpose in my life”
  • “I don’t have a good sense of what it is I’m trying to accomplish in life.”

They were then shown messages urging them to get more exercise.

While reading these messages, their brains were scanned.

The results showed that people who had more purpose in life had less activity in brain regions related to processing conflicts.

In other words, a generalised purpose in life made people argue with the statement less.

Sure enough, they were also more likely to accept that doing a little more exercise was a good idea.

Dr Emily Falk, study co-author, said:

“We conduct studies both to understand how different kinds of health messaging can help transform people’s behaviors and why some people might be more susceptible than others.

This study does a nice job starting to unpack reasons why people who have a higher sense of purpose in life might be more able to take advantage of this messaging when they encounter it.”

The study was published in the journal Health Psychology (Kang et al., 2019).

The Most Severe Personality Disorder Weakens Empathic Brain Activity

Why people with the most severe personality disorder find it difficult to have romantic relationships and friendships.

Why people with the most severe personality disorder find it difficult to have romantic relationships and friendships.

People with borderline personality disorder have deficits in brain regions related to empathy, research finds.

The finding helps explain why people with borderline personality disorder have unstable moods.

They also often have trouble maintaining relationships with others.

Dr Brian Haas, the study’s lead authors, said:

“Our results showed that people with BPD traits had reduced activity in brain regions that support empathy.

This reduced activation may suggest that people with more BPD traits have a more difficult time understanding and/or predicting how others feel, at least compared to individuals with fewer BPD traits.”

The study involved over 80 people taking a test which measured any borderline personality traits they had.

Dr Haas explained the reasoning:

“Oftentimes, borderline personality disorder is considered a binary phenomenon.

Either you have it or you don’t.

But for our study, we conceptualized and measured it in a more continuous way such that individuals can vary along a continuum of no traits to very many BPD traits.”

In the brain scanner people were given some tasks which measured the processing of emotions, along with some control tasks.

Professor Joshua Miller, study co-author, explained the results:

“We found that for those with more BPD traits, these empathetic processes aren’t as easily activated.”

Professor Miller continued:

“Borderline personality disorder is considered one of the most severe and troubling personality disorders.

BPD can make it difficult to have successful friendships and romantic relationships.

These findings could help explain why that is.”

The study was published in the journal Personality Disorders: Theory, Research and Treatment (Haas et al., 2016).

The Personality Trait Linked To A Very Long Life

The trait can increase the odds of reaching 85-years-old by up to 70 percent.

The trait can increase the odds of reaching 85-years-old by up to 70 percent.

The personality trait of optimism is linked to a very longer life, research finds.

People who are optimistic are more likely to live an exceptionally long life.

Being optimistic — a trait that can be boosted — can increase the odds of reaching 85-years-old by up to 70 percent.

Optimistic people tend to expect positive outcomes in the future.

Critically, optimists believe they can control their lives and make improvements.

Optimists tend to lead healthier lives and are also better at regulating their emotions.

They are less likely to smoke, have better body mass indexes and are more physically active.

Dr Lewina Lee, the study’s first author, said:

“While research has identified many risk factors for diseases and premature death, we know relatively less about positive psychosocial factors that can promote healthy aging.

This study has strong public health relevance because it suggests that optimism is one such psychosocial asset that has the potential to extend the human lifespan.

Interestingly, optimism may be modifiable using relatively simple techniques or therapies.”

The study included 71,173 people whose optimism and overall health was tracked.

The group were tracked for up to three decades.

The results showed that the most optimistic people lived up to 15 percent longer, with a 50-70 percent higher chance of reaching 85-years-old than the least optimistic people.

One of the reasons optimists live longer could be a healthier lifestyle, along with dealing with stress more effectively, said Dr Laura Kubzansky, study co-author:

“Other research suggests that more optimistic people may be able to regulate emotions and behavior as well as bounce back from stressors and difficulties more effectively.”

Increase your optimism

Exercises such as visualising your ‘best possible self‘ have been shown to increase optimism.

Visualising your best possible self may sound like an exercise in fantasy but, crucially, it does have to be realistic.

Carrying out this exercise typically involves imagining your life in the future, but a future where everything that could go well, has gone well.

You have reached those realistic goals that you have set for yourself.

Then, to help cement your visualisation, you commit your best possible self to paper.

The study was published in the journal PNAS (Lee et al., 2019).

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