Be conscientious, and live longer!

William Atkins
Sunday, 02 November 2008 19:51

Science - Health

According to twenty studies combined into one large California study, the more conscientious a person is, the longer they live. So, if you are lazy, you could be headed for an early grave.


The authors are obviously taking their own advice (be conscientious for a longer life) when they took the extra time to analyze twenty previous studies to use as the basis for their conclusions.

These independent research projects together studied 8,900 people for conscientiousness by using a standard psychological survey, along with recording the birth and death dates of each person.

The results of this study were published in the September 27, 2008 issue of the journal Health Psychology.

The title of their paper is “Do conscientious individuals live longer? A quantitative review.”

The authors are Margaret L. Kern and Howard S. Friedman, both with the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside.

So, it would do yourself good to read the rest of this article (be conscientious) and take the advice of these U.S. psychologists.

Turn to page two (be resourceful, another long-living trait) for more of the story.