Adolescent Personality, Cognitive Ability and Mortality: Analyses from Project Talent

Sandra L. Eyster, American Institutes for Research
Jizhi Zhang, American Institutes for Research
Celeste Stone, American Institutes for Research
Susan Lapham, American Institutes for Research
George Rebok, American Institutes for Research
Leslie Scott, American Institutes for Research

AIR researchers analyze all-cause and cause-specific mortality data from Project Talent, a nationally representative longitudinal study of high school students in 1960, to address questions about the relationship between personality, cognitive ability, and mortality: 1. What are the effects of personality and cognitive ability on mortality from adolescence until early old age? 2. Do race differences exist in the relationship between personality, cognitive ability, and mortality? 3. How are personality and cognitive ability related to cause-specific mortality? Do these effects vary by race or over the lifespan? Analyses will examine the pathways by which cognitive ability and personality are related to mortality. We examine how these pathways vary by race, and how effects change over the life course. Project Talent is a leading resource for the study of mortality in the United States, allowing researchers to conduct complex analyses of the effects of early life experiences and characteristics on mortality.