Being organised and active may be predictor of longer life, study finds

"Being organised, active and helpful could not just make you a better person, it may even help you live longer. On the other hand, being frequently stressed, anxious or moody could be linked to a shorter lifespan. Researchers said their findings, published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, could help doctors develop tools for predicting health risks based not only on blood pressure and cholesterol but also on how someone tends to think, feel and behave."

"Rene Mottus, a psychologist and co-author of the study, said: Rather than looking at broad, catch-all personality types like extroverted or conscientious, we zoomed in on individual descriptors: the precise ways people talked about themselves when filling out standardised personality questionnaires. The University of Edinburgh professor said the study's robust findings gave the first indication yet that those tiny, specific self-descriptions the ones most of us breeze through without a second thought could be quietly predicting who lives longer."

"The word active' was the most striking, Mottus said. Participants who described themselves this way were significantly less likely to die during the study period with a 21% lower risk, even when age, gender and medical conditions were taken into account. The traits of being lively, organised, responsible, hard-working, thorough and helpful followed closely behind. The research covered more than 22,000 adults in four major studies with follow-up periods of six to 28 years."

Specific personality descriptors correlate with differences in mortality risk. Describing oneself as active associates with a 21% lower risk of death during follow-up, independent of age, gender and medical conditions. Traits such as lively, organised, responsible, hard-working, thorough and helpful also correlate with lower mortality. Frequent stress, anxiety and moodiness associate with shorter lifespan. The evidence derives from more than 22,000 adults followed across four longitudinal cohorts with follow-up periods ranging six to 28 years. The findings indicate that precise behavioural and attitudinal characteristics may provide measurable information for forecasting health risks alongside clinical measures like blood pressure and cholesterol.

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