The idea that your personality influences your health is a long-standing assumption, but questions remain about why and how. The devil in these details is that the “Type A” personality pattern was debunked after it was discovered that much of the original data were faked. However, personality researchers have continued to probe into the idea that somehow, something, about your psychological makeup can influence not only your health but also maybe even how long you live.

In many ways, it makes sense to keep pursuing this question. Think about what it means to be high in conscientiousness, one of the five factors in the now well-accepted Five-Factor Model (FFM). You’ll be more likely to follow doctor’s orders, or at least the directives put forth by health experts in the fields of cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses. Following the latest news on health, you’ll judiciously weigh the recommendations about what to eat and how much to exercise.

What about other personality traits? As it turns out, extraversion, too, has its benefits for health, especially when combined with conscientiousness. Research shows that the “go-getter” (high on both traits) will not only go to the gym but also work out (instead of dawdle) once there. Agreeableness also has heart-healthy benefits, as shown by a study of more than 5,500 Danish adults (Christensen et al., 2019). Again, agreeableness alone might not be the whole story, because agreeably lazy people might now do as well as those who are also go-getters.

The Latest on Personality and Health

A major new international study headed by University of Washington St. Louis’ Emily Willroth and colleagues (2025), based on more than 11 samples studied for from 6 to 43 years, had the power to test the potentially life-extending benefits of all five traits in the FFM (or “Big Five”) theory on mortality (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience). Believing initially that it would be change in these traits that could serve as a “psychosocial vital sign” of impending death, Willroth et al. tested not only absolute trait levels over time but also individually based change patterns, in relationship to mortality.

In contrast to the view that personality doesn’t change at all once adulthood is reached, the international researchers note that there is now plenty of support for the opposite: “accumulating evidence suggests personality trait change continues into middle adulthood and may even accelerate in older adulthood.” However, this comes with a warning that there are highly individualized patterns around these “population-level trends.”

Some of these variations may be associated with the different roles that people take on as they go through adulthood, but some may be due to the changes in goals that people may adopt, including a desire to maximize gains (growth) over losses (age-related challenges).

Molding their personality traits to these changing demands and circumstances, it can be adaptive to become more conscientious about health, less neurotic in the face of stress, and more likely to show the socially desirable traits of agreeableness and extraversion. On the other hand, increased concern about health could prompt an increase in neuroticism. No prior data were available at the time of the study to draw any inferences about openness and its relation to mortality.

All in all, then, personality change in relation to health could occur in a variety of ways and in a variety of patterns depending on which personality trait or traits are involved. With access to this massive longitudinal data set, Willroth and her team set about to sort through these possibilities.

Patterns of Change as Predictors of Mortality

All samples used to generate the data used some variation of an FFM instrument. The years of investigation ranged from 1975 to 2020, with the longest (carried out in the United States) involving the years 1975 to 2010. Using statistical modeling methods that allow individual change patterns to be tracked in relation to mortality, the authors examined each trait separately.

Consistent with prior research, the three big predictors of mortality were indeed conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, but the findings didn’t support the personality change piece of the study. In the case of conscientiousness, the authors suggest that change may not be as important as life-long high levels. It also may be too late to become more conscientious late in life when much of the damage has already been done. This is potentially bad news for people who think that they can take up more sensible habits “later” rather than now.

There is another reason the change score analysis didn’t work out, and that’s because the authors only tested for linear (straight line) change. As you can undoubtedly attest to from your own life, change can happen in all kinds of ways, not just up or down. It is perhaps inherent in the nature of longitudinal studies that are based on intervals of years to miss out on the little blips that can occur over the span of time. Today you’re feeling agreeable, but maybe you were grumpy a couple of weeks ago when things just didn’t seem to be going all that well. The authors admit these limitations, which they then use to suggest ways that future research could overcome them.

Using Your Personality to Work for You

Of the “Big 5,” then, it appears that there’s a “Big 3” when it comes to predicting who’s going to live longer. Even if the personality change piece of the study failed to detect consistent patterns related to longevity, the fundamental idea that personality does matter remains.

If you’re one of those people who’s waiting to turn on your conscientiousness faucet, the Willroth et al. findings suggest it may be better to turn “later” into “soon,” or even “now.” What remains unclear, further, is whether people could be prodded into becoming more careful about their health or also a bit nicer by a more concerted intervention effort. As the authors note, it is an “open question whether personality trait change in response to interventions may modulate mortality risk.”

To sum up, if you want to live a longer but also healthier life, consider ways to examine how you express your personality and how this has changed over time. Taking on the Big 3, one trait at a time, can help boost not only your fulfillment but also the length of time you can enjoy that fulfillment.