Want to live a very long and healthy life? Researchers with the New England Centenarian Study have identified the two personality traits that could help you get there.

The scientists asked a group of offspring of people who had reached the ripe old age of 100 or more to fill out a standard psychology questionnaire and then compared their answers to those of the general public. Children of centenarians were much more extroverted and much less neurotic than their counterparts, the analysis showed.

“It’s likely that the low neuroticism and higher extroversion will confer health benefits for these subjects,” said senior author Thomas Perls, MD, MPH, director of the New England Centenarian Study. “For example, people who are lower in neuroticism are able to manage or regulate stressful situations more effectively than those with higher neuroticism levels. Similarly, high extroversion levels have been associated with establishing friendships and looking after yourself.”

What the study doesn’t show, unfortunately, is whether any of us can hope to become less neurotic and more extroverted than we naurally are. Nor does it offer evidence that achieving those elusive changes would add years to our lives. In the end, the results may simply prove that the offspring of centenarians are blessed both by great longevity genes and a generally affable and cheerful outlook on life.

Lucky them.

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: longevity, personality traits