Relationship of athleticism and personality structure in the early years with mortality in the later years

The present investigation examined the relationship between athleticism and personality in the early years with mortality in the later years. The first pilot study indicated that male athletes and non-athletes did not differ significantly on hostility or depression scores. The second pilot study indicated that hostility scores were significantly associated with the validity scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) in both men and women, and the third pilot study indicated that depression scores were associated with the validity scales in both men and women, although to a lesser degree than observed for the hostility scores. The purpose of the main study was to evaluate the ability of hostility and depression, as measured by the MMPI at 18 years of age, to predict mortality by 66 years of age. Participants for the study were drawn from a large data base of first-year college students (N = 995 [Male] and N = 796 [Female]) who had completed the MMPI in 1951. Men were classified as athletes or non-athletes, and women were classified as members or non-members of physical activity clubs. In addition, individuals were classified as graduates or non-graduates depending upon whether or not they graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Results indicated that neither hostility nor depression was significantly related to mortality for any of the sub-groups included in this study, with the exception of the women graduates who were classified as club members. Women classified as club members had a significantly higher graduation rate than did the non-club members, whereas men athletes and non-athletes did not differ on graduation rates. For the population of men and women studied in this investigation, it is concluded that: (1) graduation rates are associated with involvement in physical activity clubs for women, whereas graduation rates in men athletes and non-athletes do not differ; (2) the relationship between hostility, depression, and mortality is far more complex than suggested in earlier research; and (3) scores on the hostility and depression scales of the MMPI are associated with response distortion, and this must be taken into account in future inquiry.