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Comment
. 2013 Sep 1;178(5):676-8.
doi: 10.1093/aje/kwt169. Epub 2013 Aug 1.

Invited commentary: Personality phenotype and mortality--new avenues in genetic, social, and clinical epidemiology

Benjamin P Chapman  1
Affiliations
Comment

Invited commentary: Personality phenotype and mortality--new avenues in genetic, social, and clinical epidemiology

Benjamin P Chapman. Am J Epidemiol. .

Abstract

In this issue of the Journal, Jokela et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2013;178(5):667-675) scrutinize the association between personality phenotype and all-cause mortality in remarkable detail by using an "individual-participant meta-analysis" design. Across 7 large cohorts varying in demographics and methods of personality measurement, they find varying prospective associations for 4 dimensions of the five-factor (or "Big Five") model of personality, but robust and consistent prospective associations for Big Five dimension of "conscientiousness." Jokela et al. place an important exclamation point on a long era of study of this topic and hint directly and indirectly at new avenues for this line of research. I consider the following 3 areas particularly rife for further inquiry: the role of genetics in personality and health studies; the role of personality in social inequalities in health; and the health policy and clinical implications of work like that of Jokela et al., including the potential role of personality phenotype in the evolution of personalized medicine.

Keywords: Big Five personality traits; all-cause mortality; meta-analysis; personality.

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References

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