Does personality predict health? Non-cognitive skills, health behaviours, and longevity in Russia

Abstract

Non-cognitive skills have recently gained much attention as an explanation for various social outcomes, including health inequalities. This paper explores the relationship between non-cognitive skills measured as the Big Five and locus of control, health behaviours such as physical activity, smoking, and drinking, and the resulting measures of health. A set of binary and multinomial logit models, as well as Cox proportional hazard models for longevity, are estimated on rich panel RLMS-HSE data for the years 2011-2021. Conscientiousness from the Big Five and internal locus of control show a significant and consistent positive association with self-assessed health and objective longevity in both genders, which is only partly mediated through health behaviours. Gender-specific differences are also present, with neuroticism increasing the risks of mortality for males, and openness decreasing them for females. Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and internal locus of control all show a statistically significant link with self-assessed health. Policies, aimed at the formation of positive non-cognitive skills during early stages of socialisation, may be a promising instrument for improving individual health.