I was surprised to read that conscientiousness was the greatest personality predictor of long life, both in childhood and adulthood. After reading that this personality type is less likely to engage in risky behaviors, the conclusion seemed more logical to me. However, I was surprised because this personality seems to be associated with stress and worry to me, which I assumed is harmful to health. I would have assumed that carefree and more social individuals would live longer, as they would be surrounded by others and be less stressed. Although after reading this chapter, and the segment about the relationship between conscientiousness and chronic disease, this finding seems like it should have been obvious.
I also thought it was interesting that having a conscientious personality was a predictor of long life. Though, as you said, after reading that these people are less likely to engage in risky behaviors, it also seemed to make reasonable sense. I think the point is that usually we might associate conscientiousness with a type A personality which is the high stress type. But conscientious is defined as “(of a person) wishing to do what is right, especially to do one’s work or duty well and thoroughly.” One can want to do the right thing and not be driven or stressed by it. In fact, doing what is right, or doing a good job would lead to a lot of personal satisfaction. This along with being conscientious about daily life habits (exercise, diet, etc) could definitely be a primary factor in determining long life.