Openness to experience and mortality in men: Analysis of trait and facets

Nicholas A. Turiano; Avron Spiro; Daniel K. Mroczek

doi:10.1177/0898264311431303

Openness to experience and mortality in men: Analysis of trait and facets

Nicholas A. Turiano^*, Avron Spiro, Daniel K. Mroczek

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives: We examined whether specific facets are more robust predictors of mortality risk than overall trait openness in a sample of older men. Methods: The current investigation used data from 1,349 men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study. From 1990-1991 to 2008, 547 (41%) had died. We used exploratory factor analysis to extract facets of openness, followed by proportional hazards modeling to examine 18-year mortality risk. Results: Two facets emerged from the openness adjectives: intellect and creativity. In the fully adjusted model, only creativity predicted mortality risk. A 1-SD increase in creativity was associated with a 12% decrease in mortality risk. Discussion: The study demonstrated that consideration of facets allows for a more precise understanding of the personality-health association. Higher levels of creativity predict longer survival in a sample of older men which provides preliminary support of the protective role creativity has on health even at advanced ages.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	654-672
Number of pages	19
Journal	Journal of aging and health
Volume	24
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264311431303
State	Published - Jun 2012

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (T32-AG025671, R01-AG18436), Purdue University Center on Aging and the Life Course, and by a Merit Review and a Research Career Scientist award from the Clinical Sciences Research and Development Service of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA Normative Aging Study is supported by the Cooperative Studies Program/ERIC, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and is a research component of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Keywords

creativity
facets
mortality
openness
personality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
Life-span and Life-course Studies
Sociology and Political Science

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10.1177/0898264311431303

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abstract = "Objectives: We examined whether specific facets are more robust predictors of mortality risk than overall trait openness in a sample of older men. Methods: The current investigation used data from 1,349 men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study. From 1990-1991 to 2008, 547 (41%) had died. We used exploratory factor analysis to extract facets of openness, followed by proportional hazards modeling to examine 18-year mortality risk. Results: Two facets emerged from the openness adjectives: intellect and creativity. In the fully adjusted model, only creativity predicted mortality risk. A 1-SD increase in creativity was associated with a 12% decrease in mortality risk. Discussion: The study demonstrated that consideration of facets allows for a more precise understanding of the personality-health association. Higher levels of creativity predict longer survival in a sample of older men which provides preliminary support of the protective role creativity has on health even at advanced ages.",

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note = "Funding Information: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging (T32-AG025671, R01-AG18436), Purdue University Center on Aging and the Life Course, and by a Merit Review and a Research Career Scientist award from the Clinical Sciences Research and Development Service of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA Normative Aging Study is supported by the Cooperative Studies Program/ERIC, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and is a research component of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.",

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Openness to experience and mortality in men: Analysis of trait and facets

Abstract

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