Abstract
Personality traits and cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults are reliable predictors of health and longevity. We examined the association between personality traits and energy expenditure at rest (basal metabolic rate) and during normal and maximal sustained walking. Personality traits and oxygen (VO2) consumption were assessed in 642 participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Results indicate that personality traits were mostly unrelated to resting metabolic rate and energy expenditure at normal walking pace. However, those who scored lower on neuroticism (r = −0.12) and higher on extraversion (r = 0.11), openness (r = 0.13), and conscientiousness (r = 0.09) had significantly higher energy expenditure at peak walking pace. In addition to greater aerobic capacity, individuals with a more resilient personality profile walked faster and were more efficient in that they required less energy per meter walked. The associations between personality and energy expenditure were not moderated by age or sex, but were in part explained by the proportion of fat mass. In conclusion, differences in personality may matter the most during more challenging activities that require cardiorespiratory fitness. These findings suggest potential pathways that link personality to health outcomes, such as obesity and longevity.
Highlights
In a sample that spanned from middle adulthood to old age, we found that individuals low in neuroticism and high in extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness demonstrated higher aerobic capacity at maximal sustained walking speed
Personality, was mostly unrelated to metabolic rate at rest and during normal walking. These results indicate that personality differences emerge mostly when greater energetic effort is required, with a resilient personality profile associated with higher aerobic capacity
This observation is consistent with evidence linking these same personality traits, low neuroticism and high conscientiousness, to better health and longevity [4,5,17,18,19]
Summary
Physical fitness and personality traits are related to lifestyles that promote health [1,2,3,4,5,6] and well-being [7,8,9], predict resilience to diseases and disabilities [1,10,11,12], such as Alzheimer’s disease [13,14,15,16], and are robust predictors of longevity [1,10,11,17,18,19]. Apart from a few studies with measures of anxiety, hostility, or depression [31,32], there has not been a systematic investigation of the association between the major dimensions of personality (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and energy expenditure (volume of oxygen (VO2) consumption) at rest and during normal and exertional activity. Individuals who are more anxious or aggressive may have a higher resting metabolic rate due to their higher level of activation and reactivity Those who are more depressed, introverted or less conscientious might have lower peak aerobic capacity because of their sedentary lifestyle [22]. These traits may shape energy expenditure at rest and during everyday activities, or may only relate to more challenging activities with higher energetic demand. Given the substantial decline of aerobic capacity with age, we further examine whether personality traits show stronger associations with aerobic capacity in the latter part of the lifespan
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