Additional analyses examined the association of personality traits with cause-specific mortality. Death due to cardiovascular diseases (stroke, vascular, coronary and non-coronary heart disease) was confirmed in 321 cases. Individuals that died of other, unknown, or not yet classified causes of death were excluded from the analyses. We found trends for General Activity (HR = 0.985, 95%CI = 0.967–1.003) and Conscientiousness (HR = 0.977, 95%CI = 0.944–1.011) and a significant association for Emotional Stability (HR = 0.979, 95%CI = 0.960–0.999) with risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases. These associations became slightly weaker when cigarette smoking and obesity were entered in the analyses, but the effect of Emotional Stability remained significant. Given the substantial overlap, it is not surprising to find similar personality predictors of mortality due to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease. However, Emotional Stability is the most salient personality predictor of mortality due to cardiovascular disease.
