Influence of personality on the health and social participation of elderly people: the role of extraversion and optimism.

Health and social participation are two fundamental pillars of active aging thus it is important to understand variables that might affect them. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between extraversion, optimism, health status and social participation. The sample comprised 406 community-dwelling older adults (M=74.88, SD= 6.75) from urban areas of Granada. It was found that extraversion and optimism positively correlated with perceived health status and with social participation and negatively correlated with number of illnesses. The association between personality and social participation was stronger than the one between personality and health. This study highlights the relevance that personality has for older adults’ health and social participation thus it is important to consider personality in active aging models.