{"id":593314,"date":"2026-05-19T22:55:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/593314\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:55:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:55:17","slug":"6-personality-traits-linked-to-a-longer-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/593314\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Personality Traits Linked To A Longer Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

There isn\u2019t an exact formula<\/a> for a longer life yet, though researchers think they have some pretty good ideas.<\/p>\n

Great genes, enough sleep, and a decent diet can go a long way if you want to reach 100<\/a>, for instance. But some factors are less physical. <\/p>\n

For instance, one paper found that people who had a positive view of ageing may be less likely to experience age-related decline<\/a>. <\/p>\n

And having a sense of purpose \u201cappears to widely buffer against mortality risk across the adult years,\u201d a 2015 paper found<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Yet another paper, this time looking at data from 22,000 participants, found that \u201cpersonality nuances were associated with mortality risk \u201d.<\/p>\n

Which personality traits might help you live longer? <\/p>\n

1) Being active<\/p>\n

This self-descriptor was most linked to a longer life in the 2025 paper (27% lower mortality risk).<\/p>\n

Study author and psychologist Professor Ren\u00e9 M\u00f5ttus told The Guardian<\/a>: \u201cThe word \u2018active\u2019 was the most striking.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipants who described themselves this way were significantly less likely to die during the study period \u2013 with a 21% lower risk, even when age, gender and medical conditions were taken into account.\u201d <\/p>\n

2) Being lively<\/p>\n

The trait, tied in this study to outgoingness, seemed to be another helpful self-description (12% lower risk) for those hoping to live longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe extraversion items active and lively were related to a lower mortality risk,\u201d the paper reads.<\/p>\n

Separate 2017 research<\/a> linked higher levels of extraversion to a 14% reduction in mortality.<\/p>\n

3) Being organised <\/p>\n

The study also found that higher levels of conscientiousness, including describing yourself as organised, were linked to a longer life (14% lower mortality risk).<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing \u2018organised\u2019 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,\u201d study author Professor P\u00e1raic O\u2019S\u00failleabh\u00e1in told The Guardian.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the only paper to link greater conscientiousness<\/a> to a longer life, either.<\/p>\n

4) Being responsible <\/p>\n

Linked to a 12% lower risk of death in this paper, the term also falls in the \u201cconscientiousness\u201d bracket.<\/p>\n

5) Being hardworking <\/p>\n

Those who saw themselves as industrious had a 15% lower risk of mortality, as did those who described themselves as \u201cthorough\u201d. <\/p>\n

One 2016 paper found<\/a> that those who worked even a year later than retirement age saw an up-to-11% lower risk of death in an 18-year follow-up period.<\/p>\n

6) Being helpful <\/p>\n

This personality trait, which fell into the broader category of \u201cagreeableness\u201d, has also been linked to a longer lifespan. <\/p>\n

Another paper found that people who volunteered<\/a> tended to live longer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There isn\u2019t an exact formula for a longer life yet, though researchers think they have some pretty good…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[402,59,102,6958,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-593314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-evergreen","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-longevity","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}