Personality Trait Level and Change as Predictors of Health Outcomes: Findings From a National Study of Americans (MIDUS)
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: Personality traits predict numerous health outcomes, but previous studies have rarely used personality change to predict health. METHODS: The current investigation utilized a large national sample of 3,990 participants from the Midlife in the U.S. study (MIDUS) to examine if both personality trait level and personality change longitudinally predict 3 different health outcomes (i.e., self-rated physical health, self-reported blood pressure, and number of days limited at work or home due to physical health reasons) over a 10-year span. RESULTS: Each of the Big Five traits, except openness, predicted self-rated health. Change in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion also predicted self-rated health. Trait levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism level predicted self-reported blood pressure. All trait levels except agreeableness predicted number of work days limited. Only change in conscientiousness predicted the number of work days limited. DISCUSSION: Findings demonstrate that a full understanding of the link between personality and health requires consideration of trait change as well as trait level.
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Changes in self and personality exert predictive power for important life outcomes such as mortality, substance abuse, or self-rated health.
“these changes exert predictive power for such important life outcomes as mortality (Mroczek & Spiro, 2007), substance abuse (Hampson, Tildesley, Andrews, Luckyx, & Mroczek, 2010) or self-rated health (Turiano, Pitzer, Armour, Karlamangla, Ryff, & Mroczek, 2012).”
From Low and decreasing self-esteem during adolescence predict adult depression two decades later. (2014) · cites this paper as Turiano, Pitzer, Armour, Karlamangla, Ryff, & Mroczek, 2012
Naturalistic declines in Conscientiousness and Extraversion over a 10-year period are associated with worse self-rated health at follow-up.
“Regardless, there is emerging evidence that naturalistic declines in Conscientiousness and Extraversionover at a 10-year period are associated with worse self-rated health at follow-up [247]”
From Personality and Longevity: Knowns, Unknowns, and Implications for Public Health and Personalized Medicine (2011) · cites this paper as [247]
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“Regardless, there is emerging evidence that naturalistic declines in Conscientiousness and Extraversionover at a 10year period are associated with worse self-rated health at follow-up [247], suggesting that personality-related interventions warrant serious consideration.”
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Investigating the impact of mobile SNS addiction on individual’s self-rated health
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- Authors
- Turiano, N. A., Pitzer, L., Armour, C., Karlamangla, A., Ryff, C. D., & Mroczek, D. K.
- Affiliations
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- University of Notre Dame (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2011-07-15
- Volume
- 67B
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-12
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- PMC
- PMC3410684
- OpenAlex
- W2104840093
- Cited by
- 276
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 15.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG018436, T32AG025671, P01AG020166, R01-AG1843)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- personality traits, personality change, Big Five personality traits, self-rated health, blood pressure, work disability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, middle-aged adults, health outcomes
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Forecasting, Health Status, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Personality, Personality Disorders, United States, Work, Treatment Outcome, Self Report
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