What if certain personality traits could say a lot about your future? Character traits can help you live longer, according to a study from the Complutense University of Madrid published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.
How do you live to be a hundred years old?
According to the medium Trust My Science, which reported on this study, certain personality traits such as resilience, sociability or personal commitment could play a major role in old age and thus increase the chances of reaching a centenarian. To obtain this result, researchers surveyed 16 women and three men aged 100 to 107 across Spain.
What do they have in common? All participants engage in an activity that develops their vitality. Another study published in 2022, conducted by researchers at Harvard University and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that people who tend to be optimistic “can expect to live longer by 5.4%.” And so hope to still be alive after 90 years.
The secret to aging well?
In August 2023, Netflix released a documentary called “100 Years of Plenitude” that highlighted the blue zones – those regions of the world where the rate of centenarians was the highest. The idea of this documentary was to highlight the lifestyle habits, well-being and health of these centenarians and to understand the main pillars of longevity.
Among the most represented pillars are: a healthy and balanced diet, regular physical activity, even working in the garden or going for a walk for a few minutes, maintaining a social bond and, finally, the role of genetics. According to Dan Buettner, author of the investigative book and documentary series: “Longevity is explained 10% by genes and 90% by lifestyle.”