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Personality and subjective age: Evidence from six samples
Yannick Stephan1, Angelina R Sutin2, Anna Kornadt3
1EuroMov.
Psychology and Aging
|March 17, 2022
Summary
Personality traits significantly influence how old or young individuals feel. Higher neuroticism is linked to feeling older, while extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are associated with feeling younger. This impacts health outcomes across adulthood.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Gerontology
- Personality Science
Background:
- Subjective age, or how old one feels, is a significant predictor of health outcomes.
- Understanding the factors influencing subjective age is crucial for aging research.
- Personality traits are fundamental aspects of individual differences that may shape perceptions of aging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between major personality traits and subjective age.
- To explore potential mediators (e.g., health status, depressive symptoms) in the personality-subjective age relationship.
- To examine if chronological age moderates the link between personality and subjective age.
Main Methods:
- Utilized large-scale, multi-cohort datasets (N > 31,000) including MIDUS, HRS, NHATS, WLSG, WLSS, and ELSA.
- Assessed personality traits and subjective age at baseline, with longitudinal follow-up for subjective age in select cohorts.
- Employed cross-sectional and multilevel longitudinal analyses, alongside meta-analysis and mediation analyses.
Main Results:
- Higher neuroticism consistently correlated with older subjective age across samples.
- Higher extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with younger subjective age.
- Health-related factors partially mediated these associations, with personality traits predicting subjective age independently of these factors.
Conclusions:
- Personality traits are robustly associated with subjective age, suggesting personality is a key component of an individual's perceived age.
- Subjective age can be viewed as a biopsychosocial marker of aging, reflecting underlying personality characteristics.
- Findings highlight the role of personality in shaping the aging experience and its health implications.
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