Category: Personality

People with this personality trait live an average of two to four years longer.

People who are conscientious have stronger immune systems and live the longest lives, research finds.

Conscientious people tend to be self-disciplined and they aim for achievement.

Highly conscientious people live an average of two to four years longer.

They are also less likely to smoke or drink and experience lower levels of stress.

Two aspects of conscientiousness have the strongest link to a long life:

• a preference for order,
• and an orientation towards achievement.

Now, a new study finds that the link is at least partly explained by the immune system.

People higher in conscientiousness have lower levels of a biological marker called interleukin-6, which is linked to inflammation in the body.

Dr Páraic Ó Súilleabháin, the study’s first author, said:

“Our personality is critically important throughout our lives, from early stages in our development, to the accumulation of the impact of how we think, feel, and behave across our lives, and in the years preceding our death.

It is also becoming increasingly apparent how important personality actually is for our long-term health and resulting longevity.

For instance, it has been shown that people scoring lower on the personality trait of conscientiousness (a tendency to be responsible, organized, and capable of self-control) can be at a 40% increased risk of future death compared to their higher scoring counterparts.

What is not clear is how this could happen, and importantly, what biological pathway might be responsible for this link.”

The study included 957 adults who were tracked over 14 years.

Dr Ó Súilleabháin explained the results:

“We found that part of the reason why people who score higher on the personality trait of conscientiousness live longer is as a result of their immune system, specifically due to lower levels of a biological marker called interleukin-6.

There are likely further biological mechanisms that are yet to be discovered which will give a clearer picture of all the different ways that our personalities are so critical to our long-term health.”

Other personality traits linked to a stronger immune system include extraversion and being emotionally stable.

→ Read on: How to change your personality.

The study was published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (O’Súilleabháin et al., 2021).

There are two types of extroverts, each with distinct brain anatomies.

There are two different types of extroverts — ‘agentic’ and ‘affiliative’ — each with distinct brain structures, research finds.

Agentic extroverts are ‘go-getters’: the kind of outgoing people who are persistent, assertive and focused on achievement.

The other kind of extroverts have a softer side.

Affiliative extroverts tend to be more affectionate, friendly and sociable.

Both types of extroverts share distinct brain anatomy as well as displaying distinct differences, the new research finds.

Dr Tara White, the study’s first author, said that extroverts in general are keen to share:

“These are people just sharing with you how they tend to experience the world and what’s important to them.

The fact that that’s validated in the brain is really exciting. There’s a deep reality there.

This is the first glimpse of a benchmark of what the healthy adult brain looks like with these traits.”

Scanning for types of extrovert

For the study, researchers scanned the brains of 83 people to look for similarities and differences in key areas of the brain.

They found that both types of extroverts had more gray matter in the medial orbitofrontal cortex.

This area of the brain has been linked to making decisions based on rewards.

Agentic extroverts, though, had larger volumes in some other areas as well.

These were related to learning and memory for reward, cognitive control of behaviours and planning and execution.

The study can’t tell us whether these areas are the cause of the personality differences or the result of them, or perhaps some combination of the two.

The study’s authors concluded:

“[The] findings provide a developmental benchmark from which to better understand the etiology of problems in agentic extroversion and affiliative extroversion, such as can occur in normal aging and neurodegenerative disease.”

The study is published in the journal Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience (Grodin & White, 2015).

Blood pressure can be treated with medication and/or a series of relatively simple lifestyle changes, including exercise and diet.

High blood pressure can make people more neurotic, a study finds.

Neuroticism is one of the five major aspects of personality — it is characterised by heightened levels of anxiety and worry.

Treatment of this common condition, therefore, could help to reduce common neurotic tendencies, such as worry, hostility and depression — not to mention its more usual benefit of heart health.

Blood pressure can be treated with medication and/or a series of relatively simple lifestyle changes, including exercise and diet.

While the link between neuroticism and high blood pressure has already been identified, it was not clear which causes which.

The study’s authors write:

“Individuals with neuroticism can be sensitive to the criticism of others, are often self-critical, and easily develop anxiety, anger, worry, hostility, self-consciousness, and depression.

Neuroticism is viewed as a key causative factor for anxiety and mood disorders.

Individuals with neuroticism more frequently experience high mental stress, which can lead to elevated [blood pressure] and cardiovascular diseases.

Appropriate surveillance and control of blood pressure can be beneficial for the reduction of neuroticism, neuroticism-inducing mood disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.”

Diastolic blood pressure

The genetic study examined millions of samples of blood pressure and psychological states from 8 different studies including many hundreds of thousands of people.

The results showed that diastolic blood pressure caused high levels of neuroticism.

Diastolic blood pressure is the second number in the measurement and it reflects the blood pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats.

However, there was no link between blood pressure and depressive symptoms, anxiety or happiness.

It is not known exactly why blood pressure has this effect on personality, but clearly heart and brain are linked.

Other studies on the link between personality and blood pressure have shown that:

• Thinking positive is linked to lower blood pressure.
• People with high levels of the personality trait of neuroticism are at a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.

→ Read on: how to spot the common signs of high blood pressure

The study was published in the journal General Psychiatry (Cai et al., 2022).

People with this personality trait believe they can control their lives and make improvements.

Optimism aids the recovery of stroke survivors, a study finds.

More optimistic stroke survivors have lower levels of inflammation and less physical disability after three months.

In general, the personality trait of optimism is linked to a very much longer life.

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

The power of optimism to lengthen life may be partly down to its enhancing effect on the immune system.

Optimistic people tend to expect positive outcomes in the future.

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

Being optimistic is frequently linked to improved health outcomes.

For example, optimism has been previously linked to better heart health.

Dr Yun-Ju Lai, the study’s first author, said:

“Our results suggest that optimistic people have a better disease outcome, thus boosting morale may be an ideal way to improve mental health and recovery after a stroke.”

The study included 49 people who had had strokes.

They were asked about their levels of optimism and these were compared with their recovery.

The results showed that more optimistic people tended to have lower levels of bodily inflammation, as evidenced by interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein levels.

The more optimistic people were, the lower their levels of these inflammatory markers.

Chronic inflammation tends to harm the brain and impairs the body’s ability to recover.

Dr Lai said:

“Patients and their families should know the importance of a positive environment that could benefit the patient.

Mental health does affect recovery after a stroke.”

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 Stroke (Lai et al., 2020).

The personality trait is usually seen as a positive one and at low levels even necessary.

Perfectionism is a bigger risk factor in suicide than is often thought, according to research.

Perfectionism involves being highly self-critical, constantly striving to meet the standards of others (typically parents or mentors) and being unsure about the efficacy of one’s own actions.

While a certain amount of perfectionism is adaptive and necessary, when it becomes an obsession, it can lead to a vicious cycle.

People in professions which have a strong emphasis on perfectionism — like lawyers, architects and physicians — are at a higher risk of suicide.

Professor Gordon Flett of York University, who co-authored the study, said:

“Perfectionism is the need to be – or to appear – perfect.

Perfectionists are persistent, detailed and organized high achievers.

Perfectionists vary in their behaviors: some strive to conceal their imperfections; others attempt to project an image of perfection.

But all perfectionists have in common extremely high standards for themselves or for others.”

It’s not hard to see how setting impossibly high standards for yourself would sometimes lead to negative feelings when these standards are not met.

Professor Flett continued:

“We summarize data showing consistent links between perfectionism and hopelessness and discuss the need for an individualized approach that recognizes the heightened risk for perfectionists.”

The research finds that people who feel strong social pressure to be perfect are at increased risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts (Flett et al., 2014).

At the same time, perfectionists are adept at hiding these feelings from others — after all, it would contradict their perfectionist persona to admit to suicidal thoughts.

Perfectionists like to maintain a mask of cool invulnerability to others, while inside their thoughts and emotions are anything but calm.

Professor Flett continued:

“They also tend to experience hopelessness, psychological pain, life stress, overgeneralization, and a form of emotional perfectionism that restricts the willingness to disclose suicidal urges and intentions.”

Ironically, if they decide to commit suicide, their perfectionism can lead to very thorough and precise plans for suicide.

* Ten Signs Your a Perfectionist

Professor Flett gives these tell-tale signs of perfectionism:

1. You can’t stop thinking about a mistake you made.
2. You are intensely competitive and can’t stand doing worse than others.
3. You either want to do something “just right” or not at all.
4. You demand perfection from other people.
5. You won’t ask for help if asking can be perceived as a flaw or weakness.
6. You will persist at a task long after other people have quit.
7. You are a fault-finder who must correct other people when they are wrong.
8. You are highly aware of other people’s demands and expectations.
9. You are very self-conscious about making mistakes in front of other people.
10. * You noticed the error in the title of this list.

→ Related articles:

• How parents turn their children into problematic perfectionists
• The 2 types of perfectionism: one helps while the other sabotages you
• How to spot a toxic perfectionist
• The best remedy for a perfectionist personality

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