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Turiano NA, Graham EK, Weston SJ, Booth T, Harrison F, James BD, Lewis NA, Makkar SR, Mueller S, Wisniewski KM, Zhaoyang R, Spiro A, Willis S, Schaie KW, Lipton RB, Katz M, Sliwinski M, Deary IJ, Zelinski EM, Bennett DA, Sachdev PS, Brodaty H, Trollor JN, Ames D, Wright MJ, Gerstorf D, Muniz-Terrera G, Piccinin AM, Hofer SM, Mroczek DK. Is Healthy Neuroticism Associated with Longevity? A Coordinated Integrative Data Analysis. Collabra Psychol 2020; 6:33. [PMID: 33354648 PMCID: PMC7751763 DOI: 10.1525/collabra.268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Individual differences in the Big Five personality traits have emerged as predictors of health and longevity. Although there are robust protective effects for higher levels of conscientiousness, results are mixed for other personality traits. In particular, higher levels of neuroticism have significantly predicted an increased risk of mortality, no-risk at all, and even a reduced risk of dying. The current study hypothesizes that one potential reason for the discrepancy in these findings for neuroticism is that interactions among neuroticism and other key personality traits have largely been ignored. Thus, in the current study we focus on testing whether the personality traits neuroticism and conscientiousness interact to predict mortality. Specifically, we borrow from recent evidence of "healthy neuroticism" to explore whether higher levels of neuroticism are only a risk factor for increased mortality risk when conscientiousness levels are low. We conducted a pre-registered integrative data analysis using 12 different cohort studies (total N = 44,702). Although a consistent pattern emerged of higher levels of conscientiousness predicting a reduced hazard of dying, neuroticism did not show a consistent pattern of prediction. Moreover, no study provided statistical evidence of a neuroticism by conscientiousness interaction. The current findings do not support the idea that the combination of high conscientiousness and high neuroticism can be protective for longevity. Future work is needed to explore different protective factors that may buffer the negative effects of higher levels of neuroticism on health, as well as other behaviors and outcomes that may support the construct of healthy neuroticism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas A. Turiano
- West Virginia University, Department of Psychology and the West Virginia Prevention Research Center, Morgantown, WV, USA
| | - Eileen K. Graham
- Northwestern University, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sara J. Weston
- University of Oregon, Department of Psychology, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Tom Booth
- Centre for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
| | - Fleur Harrison
- The University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Sydney NSW, Australia
| | - Bryan D. James
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Nathan A. Lewis
- The University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Steven R. Makkar
- The University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Sydney NSW, Australia
| | - Swantje Mueller
- Hamburg University, Berlin, Germany, Department of Psychology, Berlin, Germany
- Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, Department of Psychology, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kristi M. Wisniewski
- University of Southern California, Department of Gerontology, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ruixue Zhaoyang
- Center for Healthy Aging, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
| | - Avron Spiro
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
- Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sherry Willis
- University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - K. Warner Schaie
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Human Development and Psychology, State College, PA, USA
| | | | - Mindy Katz
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Martin Sliwinski
- Center for Healthy Aging, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
| | - Ian J. Deary
- University of New South Wales, Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - David A. Bennett
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Perminder S. Sachdev
- The University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Sydney NSW, Australia
| | - Henry Brodaty
- The University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Sydney NSW, Australia
| | - Julian N. Trollor
- The University of New South Wales, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), Sydney NSW, Australia
- University of New South Wales, Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry, Sydney, Australia
| | - David Ames
- University of Melbourne Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age and National Ageing Research Institute, Kew & Parkville, Australia
| | | | - Denis Gerstorf
- Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, Department of Psychology, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Andrea M. Piccinin
- The University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Scott M. Hofer
- The University of Victoria, Department of Psychology, Victoria, BC, Canada
| | - Daniel K. Mroczek
- Northwestern University, Department of Medical Social Sciences, Chicago, IL, USA
- Northwestern University, Department of Psychology, Evanston, IL, USA
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