Ignore the mantra 'all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy' if you want to live longer, a new study suggests, after findings reveal diligent, hard-working people have a longer life expectancy.
Conscientious people who live in an emotionally stable environment live up to four years longer than those who are more complacent says the study published in New Scientist magazine.
Co-author of the study, Margaret Kern, told the journal: 'These individuals are hardworking, resourceful, confident and ambitious.'
Nearly 9,000 took part in the study to analyse personality and lifespan and lead researcher Dr Howard Friedman concluded: 'Highly conscientious people live on average two to four years longer.'
'There is evidence for several sorts of reasons. Conscientious folks are less likely to smoke, drink to excess or take too many risks.'
He added: 'But it is also true that conscientious folks lead life patterns that are more stable and less stressful.'
Dr Friedman collected the results of 20 different studies which compared life span with a benchmark psychological test. Volunteers who were less conscientious were 50% more likely to die at any age than those who scored highly in the tests.
Further experiments showed high achievers were the most likely to live the longest.
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