NEW: I’m not sure people fully appreciate how dire the US life expectancy / mortality situation has got. My column: And some utterly damning charts. 1) at *every* point on the income distribution, Americans live shorter lives than the English.

Conscientiousness will separate those who just survive from those who thrive in the 21st century. We can each decide which half of that divide we fall on — but ironically that will take some dedication. Here’s my article in full:

But I want to end on a more empowering note:. Unlike parental background and genetic make-up, there is a wealth of evidence that personality is malleable — what has been eroded can be rebuilt.

And note the timing of that steep young adult dip in extroversion:. The pandemic years when young people bore the brunt of restrictions on socialising in order to protect others from harm. Long the most extroverted group in society, young adults are now the most introverted.

The rise of time spent online and accompanying decline in face-to-face interactions mean less social policing of bad behaviours like “ghosting”. See @_alice_evans here: If you’re low-C on the internet, you don’t pay the price. Not immediately, at least. .

As @kylascan has written, the sheer convenience of the online world makes real-life commitments feel messy and effortful The in-person world encourages conscientiousness. The digital world gives you an opt-out.

To put it another way: distractions derail our intentions. And we’re now more distracted than ever. Distraction is toxic to conscientiousness.

These detailed traits lead me to point the finger at the digital world. Ubiquitous and hyper-engaging digital media has led to an explosion in distraction, as well as making it easier than ever to either not make plans in the first place or to abandon them last minute.

They also say they feel less outgoing and talkative (true of everyone, but especially young adults). Young people also report feeling less helpful and less trusting, as well as more argumentative. Again: these are people’s own self-assessments, not others’ descriptions of them.

If the headline terms still feel fuzzy, we can dig into the more detailed traits they’re made up of. Here are some of the sub-traits inside conscientiousness:. Young people say they increasingly struggle to make plans and follow through on them. They feel distracted, careless.

That’s what makes this chart so important. People are changing in ways that decades of research suggests will lead to worse life outcomes, and this is particularly true of today’s teens, twenty- and thirty-somethings.

So, that’s conscientiousness. At the other end of the spectrum, people high in neuroticism (anxious, often tense, feel emotions very strongly) tend to face more challenges in life. Relationships break down, work life is difficult, stress can bring health problems.

Generative AI could supercharge this dynamic. A high-C student might use an LLM as a personal tutor to strengthen their knowledge of a concept; their low-C counterpart might task the same LLM with writing their essay, foregoing knowledge acquisition altogether.

Conscientiousness is especially critical in the modern world. Life today is full of temptations. From hyper-engaging digital media to online gambling, the ability to ignore it all and put long-term wellbeing ahead of short-term kicks becomes a superpower.

Highly conscientious people (dependable, disciplined, committed) fare best of all. They live the longest, succeed at work, their relationships last. This makes sense. Life isn’t just about knowing what you should do or having the resources to do it, it’s about following through.

On the second, studies consistently find personality shapes life outcomes. In fact, personality traits — esp conscientiousness and neuroticism — are stronger predictors of career success, divorce and mortality than someone’s socio-economic background or cognitive abilities.

First up, personality analysis can feel vague, and you might well ask why it even matters?. On the first of those, the finding of distinct personality traits is robust. This field of research has been around for decades and holds up pretty well, even across cultures.

NEW: Is the internet changing our personalities for the worse?. Conscientiousness and extroversion are down, neuroticism up, with young adults leading the charge. This is a really consequential shift, and there’s a lot going on here, so let’s get into the weeds 🧵

RT @JesusFerna7026: Let me talk today about 🧽 sponge cities. When I discuss fertility decline, I often get the following comment:. “As the….

RT @maiamindel: Mad dash to see who finishes a transportation project first: Al-Qaeda, the city of Buenos Aires, or California.

Transcript here for those who prefer: