Like most psychological concepts this personality trait exists on a continuum.
People with this trait are more likely to be in both good psychological and good physical health.
People with this trait are more likely to be in both good psychological and good physical health.
People with a stronger sense of purpose in life are more likely to live healthily — both mentally and physically.
According to research, the reason may be that purpose in life banishes the natural conflict people experience when trying to make healthy choices.
Purpose in life can come from work, family, a sense of self or other broad aim or goal being pursued.
Feeling purposeful contributes to the feeling that life is meaningful:
Dr Yoona Kang, the study’s first author, said:
“Purpose in life has been robustly associated with health in previous studies, but the mechanism through which life purpose may promote healthy living has been unclear.”
For the study, 220 people with sedentary lifestyles answered a survey that asked them how much they agreed with statements like:
They were then shown messages urging them to get more exercise.
While reading these messages, their brains were scanned.
The results showed that people who had more purpose in life had less activity in brain regions related to processing conflicts.
In other words, a generalised purpose in life made people argue with the statement less.
Sure enough, they were also more likely to accept that doing a little more exercise was a good idea.
Dr Emily Falk, study co-author, said:
“We conduct studies both to understand how different kinds of health messaging can help transform people’s behaviors and why some people might be more susceptible than others.
This study does a nice job starting to unpack reasons why people who have a higher sense of purpose in life might be more able to take advantage of this messaging when they encounter it.”
The study was published in the journal Health Psychology (Kang et al., 2019).
Why people with the most severe personality disorder find it difficult to have romantic relationships and friendships.
Why people with the most severe personality disorder find it difficult to have romantic relationships and friendships.
People with borderline personality disorder have deficits in brain regions related to empathy, research finds.
The finding helps explain why people with borderline personality disorder have unstable moods.
They also often have trouble maintaining relationships with others.
Dr Brian Haas, the study’s lead authors, said:
“Our results showed that people with BPD traits had reduced activity in brain regions that support empathy.
This reduced activation may suggest that people with more BPD traits have a more difficult time understanding and/or predicting how others feel, at least compared to individuals with fewer BPD traits.”
The study involved over 80 people taking a test which measured any borderline personality traits they had.
Dr Haas explained the reasoning:
“Oftentimes, borderline personality disorder is considered a binary phenomenon.
Either you have it or you don’t.
But for our study, we conceptualized and measured it in a more continuous way such that individuals can vary along a continuum of no traits to very many BPD traits.”
In the brain scanner people were given some tasks which measured the processing of emotions, along with some control tasks.
Professor Joshua Miller, study co-author, explained the results:
“We found that for those with more BPD traits, these empathetic processes aren’t as easily activated.”
Professor Miller continued:
“Borderline personality disorder is considered one of the most severe and troubling personality disorders.
BPD can make it difficult to have successful friendships and romantic relationships.
These findings could help explain why that is.”
The study was published in the journal Personality Disorders: Theory, Research and Treatment (Haas et al., 2016).
People who are high on this personality trait have healthier hearts.
The trait can increase the odds of reaching 85-years-old by up to 70 percent.
The trait can increase the odds of reaching 85-years-old by up to 70 percent.
The personality trait of optimism is linked to a very longer life, research finds.
People who are optimistic are more likely to live an exceptionally long life.
Being optimistic — a trait that can be boosted — can increase the odds of reaching 85-years-old by up to 70 percent.
Optimistic people tend to expect positive outcomes in the future.
Critically, optimists believe they can control their lives and make improvements.
Optimists tend to lead healthier lives and are also better at regulating their emotions.
They are less likely to smoke, have better body mass indexes and are more physically active.
Dr Lewina Lee, the study’s first author, said:
“While research has identified many risk factors for diseases and premature death, we know relatively less about positive psychosocial factors that can promote healthy aging.
This study has strong public health relevance because it suggests that optimism is one such psychosocial asset that has the potential to extend the human lifespan.
Interestingly, optimism may be modifiable using relatively simple techniques or therapies.”
The study included 71,173 people whose optimism and overall health was tracked.
The group were tracked for up to three decades.
The results showed that the most optimistic people lived up to 15 percent longer, with a 50-70 percent higher chance of reaching 85-years-old than the least optimistic people.
One of the reasons optimists live longer could be a healthier lifestyle, along with dealing with stress more effectively, said Dr Laura Kubzansky, study co-author:
“Other research suggests that more optimistic people may be able to regulate emotions and behavior as well as bounce back from stressors and difficulties more effectively.”
Exercises such as visualising your ‘best possible self‘ have been shown to increase optimism.
Visualising your best possible self may sound like an exercise in fantasy but, crucially, it does have to be realistic.
Carrying out this exercise typically involves imagining your life in the future, but a future where everything that could go well, has gone well.
You have reached those realistic goals that you have set for yourself.
Then, to help cement your visualisation, you commit your best possible self to paper.
The study was published in the journal PNAS (Lee et al., 2019).
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Some people’s personalities naturally have greater resistance to mental health problems.
Some people’s personalities naturally have greater resistance to mental health problems.
Extraverts are less likely to suffer from depression, anxiety or any other form of mental health problem, research finds.
Extraverts tend to enjoy other people’s company, are often full of energy and tend to be talkative.
Other people give extraverts energy and they have a tendency to feel bored when alone.
The conclusions come from a study of 441 people in Finland who were given tests of personality, depression and anxiety.
The study also found that people who are neurotic are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.
The study’s authors write:
“…the personality dimension neuroticism is strongly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and the personality dimension intraversion is moderately associated with depressive symptoms among participants in this urban general population.”
Neuroticism, the authors explain, is:
“…characterized by proneness to anxiety, emotional instability, and self-consciousness, whereas extraversion involves positive emotionality, energy, and dominance.”
People who are both neurotic and introverted are at higher risk of depression and anxiety.
However, those who have stable personalities and who are extraverted are less likely to experience depression and anxiety.
The study was published in the journal Depression and Anxiety (Jylhä et al., 2006).
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