The Conscientiousness finding is consistent with the literature on personality predictors of mortality (25, 26, 32, 33), and also with a large body of evidence suggesting that conscientious people avoid health risk behaviors and engage in a wide range of health-promoting activities (1, 7, 31, 49–51). Conscientious people tend to be more informed and are more resourceful, disciplined, and organized (23). They are less likely to smoke or abuse drugs (5) and more likely to exercise and control weight (8, 52), which have large impact on mortality risk (10). In this study, smoking and obesity lead to a reduction in the effect of Conscientiousness, but these two risk factors were not crucial mediators. Conscientious people are also more attentive to health protective practices (6) and more able to care for themselves and adhere to medical regimens (15, 53). More generally, conscientious people avoid hazardous situations and are more resilient in face of adversity (54).
