Relationship between Personality and Mortality among Japanese Older Adults: A 14-Year Longitudinal Study

Hajime Iwasa, Hiroki Inagaki, Yukie Masui and Yasuyuki Gondo
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Hajime Iwasa: Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima 960-1295, Japan
Hiroki Inagaki: Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yukie Masui: Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yasuyuki Gondo: Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-8

Abstract: Personality is one of the fundamental factors in determining longevity. We used a 14-year mortality surveillance to investigate the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and all-cause mortality among older adults dwelling in a Japanese community. Individuals over 65 years old (484 males and 743 females) were recruited for the study. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to assess the Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. During the follow-up period, 502 persons (250 men and 252 women) had died. Cox proportional hazards regression controlling for covariates showed that extraversion (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.783, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.636 to 0.965 and HR = 0.757, 95% CI = 0.607 to 0.944 for the middle and highest tertiles, respectively), openness (HR = 0.768, 95% CI = 0.608 to 0.969 for the highest tertile), and conscientiousness (HR = 0.745, 95% CI = 0.607 to 0.913 and HR = 0.667, 95% CI = 0.530 to 0.840 for the middle and highest tertiles, respectively) were inversely associated with mortality when the five traits were analyzed separately. Our findings suggest that older adults who have a higher level of either extraversion, openness, or conscientiousness are more likely to live longer.

Keywords: all-cause mortality; Big Five personality; community-dwelling older adults; NEO Five-Factor Inventory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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