Is personality the key to optimal aging?

How reliable, kind and goal-oriented you are may determine how well you age, said Oregon State University psychologist Karen Hooker, PhD, at an APA Annual Convention invited address on Sunday.

Hooker explained that understanding how our personalities evolve and shape our aging is crucial to understanding longevity. And, she said, more research on the link between personality and aging is sorely needed.

"Much of what know about optimal aging has focused on the lifelong importance of health-related behavior —exercise, drinking and eating in moderation, not smoking, being engaged in life and having a strong social network," she said. "But personality is arguably the driving force behind all of these."

For example, some studies have shown that:

• Extraversion and agreeableness predict longevity.
• High neuroticism predicts cardiovascular disease and early mortality.
• Late-in-life hostility correlates with an increased risk for disease.

Her research has found that having detailed goals and ideas about your possible future self is important for healthy aging. Older adults who care for a spouse, for example, experience less stress and fewer depressive symptoms if they've mapped out goals and expectations for themselves about their caregiver roles that give it meaning, she said.

What's more, the golden years may offer the best window into personality for researchers, she said. Late life is often when a person's personality is most evolved.

"As individuals age, they become increasingly like themselves," Hooker said, quoting aging research pioneer Bernice Neugarten, PhD.