Longevity, big five personality factors, and health behaviors: Presidents from Washington to Nixon

Abstract

In this study, the positive correlation between conscientiousness and death age discovered by H. S. Friedman et al. (1993, 1995) was replicated for 32 American presidents. Conscientiousness scores, using the Big Five variables produced by S. J. Rubenzer, T. R. Faschingbauer, and D. S. Ones (1996, 2000), were correlated with death age, r(30) =.41, p <.01, and the relationship was maintained with controls in a multiple regression framework. Smoking, drinking, and exercise, as assessed by J. R. Bumgarner (1994), were also correlated in the expected fashion with death age. Conscientiousness was correlated negatively with smoking and drinking, but openness to experience was correlated negatively with smoking and drinking to a higher degree and also was positively correlated with exercise. Openness, extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness were not correlated with death age, and extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness were not correlated with smoking, drinking or exercise.