Key result
Higher conscientiousness was associated with a 35% lower mortality risk per standard deviation increase, an association that was partially mediated by lower interleukin-6 levels.
Why the study?
Although personality consistently associates with mortality hazards, the physiological pathways, such as immune system dysregulation, remain unclear.
Does higher conscientiousness reduce mortality risk in adults, and is this mediated by IL-6 and CRP?
Cohort (n=957)
Does higher conscientiousness reduce mortality risk in adults, and is this mediated by IL-6 and CRP?
Higher conscientiousness is associated with a lower mortality risk, a relationship that is partially mediated by lower levels of interleukin-6.
Higher conscientiousness may link to lower mortality partly via IL-6; hypothesis-generating, requiring prospective trials before any clinical application.
Personality is associated consistently with mortality hazards, but the physiological pathways are not yet clear. Immune system dysregulation may be one such pathway due to its role in age-related morbidity and mortality. In this preregistered study, we tested whether interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) mediated the associations between personality traits and mortality hazards. The sample included 957 participants (M ± SD = 58.65 ± 11.51 years; range = 35 – 86 years) from the Midlife in the United States Survey that had 14 years of follow-up. Higher conscientiousness was associated with lower mortality hazards, with each one standard deviation higher conscientiousness associated with a 35% lower mortality risk. IL-6, but not CRP, partially mediated this association, with IL-6 accounting for 18% of this association in the fully adjusted model. While there was initial evidence that the biomarkers mediated both neuroticism and agreeableness and mortality risk, the indirect effects were not significant when controlling for the sociodemographic variables. Taken together, higher conscientiousness may lead to a longer life partially as a result of lower IL-6. This work highlights the importance of biological pathways that link personality to future mortality risk.
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O’Súilleabháin et al. (2020) reported a cohort. Conscientiousness was evaluated on Mortality risk (35% lower mortality risk). Higher conscientiousness was associated with a 35% lower mortality risk per standard deviation increase, an association that was partially mediated by lower interleukin-6 levels.
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