Curiosity and mortality in aging adults: a 5-year follow-up of the Western Collaborative Group Study

Research suggests that curiosity in older people is associated with maintaining the health of the aging central nervous system. We examined prospectively the relationship of curiosity in 1,118 community-dwelling older men to subsequent survival over a 5-year period. Curiosity was measured when the participants were a mean age of 70.6 years. Initial levels of trait and state curiosity were higher in survivors than in those who subsequently died. After adjustment for other risk factors, the state curiosity-mortality association remained significant in the Cox regression model. Ancillary analyses in 1,035 older women (M age at initial examination = 68.6 years) confirmed the pattern found in the men. State curiosity in these women was significantly associated with survival after adjustment for other risk factors. This is the first study to identify a predictive role for curiosity in the longevity of older adults.