Outgoing People Lead
Happier Lives
Research
from the University of Southampton has shown that young adults, who are more
outgoing or more emotionally stable, are happier in later life than their more
introverted or less emotionally stable peers.
In
the study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, Dr
Catharine Gale from the Medical Research Council's Lifecourse Epidemiology
Unit, University of Southampton and a team from the University of Edinburgh and
University College London, examined the effects of neuroticism and extraversion
at ages 16 and 26 years on mental well-being and life satisfaction at age 60 to
64 and explored the mediating roles of psychological and physical health.
Dr
Gale, Reader in Epidemiology, comments: "Few studies have examined the
long-term influence of personality traits in youth on happiness and life
satisfaction later in life. We found that extroversion in youth had direct,
positive effects on well-being and life satisfaction in later life. Neuroticism,
in contrast, had a negative impact, largely because it tends to make people
more susceptible to feelings of anxiety and depression and to physical health
problems. "
The
study examined data on 4,583 people who are members of the National Survey for
Health and Development, conducted by the Medical Research Council. All were
born in 1946; they completed a short personality inventory at age 16, and again
at age 26.
Extroversion
was assessed by questions about their sociability, energy, and activity
orientation. Neuroticism was assessed by questions about their emotional
stability, mood, and distractibility.
Decades
later, when the participants were 60 to 64-years-old, 2,529 of them answered a
series of questions measuring well-being and their level of satisfaction with
life. They also reported on their mental and physical health.. Their answers
point to a distinct pattern.
Specifically,
greater extroversion, as assessed in young adulthood, was directly associated
with higher scores for well-being and for satisfaction with life. Neuroticism,
in contrast, predicted poorer levels of wellbeing, but it did so indirectly.
People higher in neuroticism as young adults were more susceptible to
psychological distress later in life and to a lesser extent, poorer physical
health.
Dr
Gale adds: "Understanding what determines how happy people feel in later
life is of particular interest because there is good evidence that happier
people tend to live longer. In this study we found that levels of neuroticism
and extraversion measured over 40 years earlier were strongly predictive of
well-being and life satisfaction in older men and women. Personality in youth
appears to have an enduring influence on happiness decades later."
Story Source:
The
above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of
Southampton.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further
information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
1.
Catharine R. Gale, Tom
Booth, René Mõttus, Diana Kuh, Ian J Deary. Neuroticism and
Extraversion in Youth Predict Mental Wellbeing and Life Satisfaction 40 Years
Later. Journal of Research in Personality, 2013; DOI:10.1016/j.jrp.2013.06.005
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University of Southampton (2013, July 17). Outgoing people lead
happier lives. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 17, 2013, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130717095356.htm
