How personality traits affect old age
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The scientists said that “attentive” people have a lower risk of experiencing mild cognitive impairment.
According to the news of AA from the UPI website, scientists analyzed the character traits of nearly 2,000 people who participated in the Rush Memory and Aging Project in Chicago and found the role of three basic personality traits in cognitive decline: “attention, extroversion and neuroticism”. examined.
EVALUATED OVER 23 YEARS
The research, which was part of a long-term memory and aging study that began in the 1990s, evaluated the cognitive abilities of participants who answered standard questions measuring personality traits annually for 23 years.
According to research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, having an “attentive” personality reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia by at least 20 percent.
In the study, it was stated that people with neuroticism (emotional instability) are at higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment.
During the study, it was noted that people with high attentiveness scores or low neuroticism scores were significantly less likely to develop cognitive impairment, with every 6 points a person achieved on the conscientiousness scale reduced their risk of experiencing cognitive impairment by 22 percent.
On the other hand, it was reported that every 7 point increase on the neuroticism scale resulted in a 12 percent increased risk of cognitive impairment.
SOCIAL PEOPLE CAUGHT LATE TO DEmentia
The authors of the study stated that people who are more extroverted and sociable live one more year without developing dementia.
“Personality traits reflect an individual’s enduring patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. For example, people with high levels of attention tend to eat well, exercise, and engage in other healthy behaviors and avoid risks such as smoking,” said Tomiko Yoneda, who led the research at Northwestern University.
On the other hand, people with high neuroticism scale often resort to “unhealthy methods” to deal with anxiety, depression and emotional instability, Yoneda said.
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