We all want a long, happy life. Here we reveal which personality trait this favors.
The number of people who are at least 100 years old has been growing continuously for years: In 2019 it was according to the Federal Statistical Office still around 17,000, in 2021 more than 23,500 people – what are these people doing right?
In this context, certain personality traits are often referred to. Particularly popular: positivity. Certainly, a positive attitude towards things has its advantages for a long, satisfied life, explains professor and personnel psychologist David Watson to “Make it”, even if he is fundamentally of the opinion that the effects of positive perspectives are overrated: “Psychologically healthy people recover more quickly and are able to tell themselves, ‘It’s no big deal.’ They find ways to bring themselves back into balance.”
But there is another personality trait that, from a scientific point of view, has a close connection to a long life: conscientiousness! We explain why this is the case in this article.
Why conscientiousness is a guarantee of a long life
Of course, a complex field like longevity is difficult to reduce to a single property. Nevertheless there is scientific Evidence that conscientiousness and longevity are related – even when the researchers included variables such as gender, age and years of education in their study. But why is that so?
In an interview with “Well + Good” magazine, psychologist Leslie R. Martin offers a possible explanation: “Because people who have higher levels of conscientiousness are more thoughtful, careful, organized, and hard-working, they are also more likely to make good decisions [für ihre Gesundheit] and find an environment in which others make similar good decisions attractive.”
Can you learn conscientiousness?
Socially, personality is often accepted as something that cannot be changed, as if shyness, humor or short temper were born in the cradle. This is not the case and people sometimes change considerably over the course of their lives – after all, we are no longer the people we were 20 years ago. And this is how a personality trait such as conscientiousness can be learned, Professor Watson also confirms to “Make it”. But how?
Just do it – not everything is genetic
First of all, it is important to let go of the idea that you “just are who you are.” As already mentioned above: the extent to which we are conscientious only has about half to do with our genetics. The other half is our environment. We can therefore take role models who are particularly conscientious and orientate ourselves on them.
And of course it’s important to just start – “practice makes perfect,” as the saying goes. You can first concentrate on an area in which you struggle with your conscientiousness, for example punctuality. And now it’s time to do everything you can to be on time – with deadlines, with meetings, with your own routines.
The “mental contrasting” technique
Now you may be thinking: How am I supposed to be punctual? I haven’t been that way all my life and I just can’t do it! One possible way: “mental contrasting.” It is important to imagine the goal, the path to get there and the obstacles that could arise along the way. You want to become more punctual – that is your goal. What could your path there look like and what obstacles could arise?
Of course, you can also work with drawings if that helps you give abstract thoughts a more solid form. It is important that you yourself see the meaning in changing something – which also benefits your motivation.
It’s okay to only be conscientious in certain areas
What may also help with motivation is that no one behaves conscientiously at all times. The topic of the environment in particular is something where people are generally rather inconsistent in their behavior.
Is called: Just because you don’t act conscientiously in certain areas doesn’t make you a person who isn’t fundamentally conscientious. It’s more about how you treat yourself, your body and your environment as a whole.
Sources used: cnbc.com, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, wellandgood.com, psychologytoday.com