Want a happy retirement? You might start by getting in touch with your personality.
Psychologists at the University of Illinois report that changes in social well-being are closely tied to one’s personality, with positive changes in one corresponding to similar changes in the other.
Psychology professor Brent Roberts and postdoctoral researcher Patrick Hill believe that the application of these results can lead to benefits as people age.
“This shows that social well-being and social structures are related to personality development, which is also related to thriving health,” Roberts says. “So this is identifying a whole new pathway through which some of these mechanisms might actually help older people thrive.”
The pair used data from the Mid-Life Development in the U.S. (MIDUS) study to determine how the Big Five personality traits—extroversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism—and social well-being of adults relate to each other over time.
Study participants answered survey questions to determine their five personality traits and social well-being on two separate occasions about nine years apart.
Social well-being is related to an individual’s connectedness to the larger community and the belief that he or she can contribute to society’s growth. It is a good predictor of general mental and physical health, and people with higher social well-being often are more civically engaged and are more apt to behave in a pro-social manner.
An analysis of the responses revealed that adult social well-being is linked to personality over time. Those who scored higher on extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness had higher social well-being. Those who gained in these traits over time often showed comparable gains in their social well-being.
“If you change the traits that help you in your social life, your social life also improves. Similarly, if you improve your social life, you’re going to see the benefits with respect to an improvement in your disposition,” Hill says.
