Sciences Po – Anglais – Corrigé - Is There a Longevity Personality?

Discipline : Anglais Auteur : Suzie Suriam Sujet type concours Sciences Po (Paris/Province) Sujet d’anglais Sciences Po Paris et province Is There a Longevity Personality? By John Cloud Tuesday, TIME, Apr. 21, 2009 Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping an abstemious diet; engaging in regular exercise; and, if you're an unusual Frenchwoman, smoking cigarettes until you are 117 years old. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity? Do some kinds of temperaments lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality traits of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100. (The study chose the offspring of centenarians because they are easier to follow over time than the very aged since they don't die as often before follow-up interviews can be conducted. Also, children of those who live to 100 are themselves likelier to live longer.) The study shows that those who live the longest are more outgoing, more active and less neurotic than other people. Long-living women are also more likely to be empathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span. These findings comport with what you would expect from evolutionary theory: those who are extroverted enough to make friends and help others are those who are going to be able to gather enough resources to make it through tough times.