Personality is seemingly way more important than we realised, when it comes to longevity.

A major new study from the University of Limerick has found that personality traits can play a significant role in how long we live.

The research analysed nearly six million years’ worth of human life data, making it one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on personality and longevity. The findings were published in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

What Aspects of Personality Did the Researchers Study?

The research team reviewed long-term (longitudinal) studies from four continents, examining data from 569,859 people over almost six million person-years, during which 43,851 deaths occurred.