Are you impulsive or an extrovert? Well, these are some of your personality traits, which may help determine what your weight will be as you get older, according to a 50-year study.
In the study, researchers from America’s national Institute on Ageing looked at detailed statistics from 1,988 people to determine how personality traits are associated with weight and body mass index.
They concluded that while weight tends to increase with age, impulsivity was the strongest predictor of who would be overweight, the Sunday Express reported.
Conversely, they found that people who displayed the most conscientiousness in their daily lives were those who tended to be leaner and did not put on weight.
Dr. Angelina Sutin, who led the study, said: “While on the face of it this sounds simple, to maintain a healthy weight it is necessary to have a healthy diet but also to have a sustained programme of physical activity and this requires a great deal of commitment and restraint.
“Such control appears to be very difficult, indeed often impossible, for highly impulsive individuals. Impulsive people are more likely to overeat and binge drink, where someone more conscientious will compensate for any days they eat too much by having less the next day. Someone impulsive can’t do this even with the best intentions.
“One biscuit is never enough, they have to keep going until they are all gone. Someone more controlled and conscientious will be able to have just one small piece of cake, enjoy it and leave it there. We found that, more often than not, impulsive people cannot do this.”
