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People Who Live the Longest Share This One Personality Trait

A study of older adults found that openness, curiosity, and intellectual engagement were linked to better psychological well-being.

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Everyone wants to live forever, but nobody wants to hear that the secret might be their personality. Unfortunately, that’s what the research is starting to suggest.

A study out of Sardinia—one of the world’s Blue Zones, a region with nearly 10 times as many centenarians per capita as the U.S.—found that the people living longest didn’t actually score higher on standard health quality-of-life measures than their neighbors outside the zone. What separated them was a personality trait: openness, meaning curiosity, intellectual engagement, and a willingness to try........

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