Personality, disability-free life years, and life expectancy: Individual participant meta-analysis of 131,195 individuals from 10 cohort studies.

OBJECTIVE

We examined how personality traits of the Five Factor Model were related to years of healthy life years lost (mortality and disability) for individuals and the population.

METHOD

Participants were 131,195 individuals from 10 cohort studies from Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States (n = 43,935 from seven cohort studies for the longitudinal analysis of disability, assessed using scales of Activities of Daily Living).

RESULTS

Lower Conscientiousness was associated with higher mortality and disability risk, but only when Conscientiousness was below its median level. If the excess risk associated with low Conscientiousness had been absent, population life expectancy would have been 1.3 years longer and disability-free life 1.0 years longer. Lower emotional stability was related to shorter life expectancy, but only among those in the lowest 15% of the distribution, and disability throughout the distribution: if the excess risk associated with low emotional stability had been absent, population life expectancy would have been 0.4 years longer and disability-free life 2.4 years longer.

CONCLUSIONS

Personality traits of low Conscientiousness and low emotional stability are associated with reduced healthy life expectancy of individuals and population.