Want to live longer? Turns out there's a simple trick that can help you extend your lifespan

If you're the kind of person who does the neighbour's shopping or lends a friend a hand putting together their new wardrobe, you will be rewarded.

That's because helpful and open-minded people tend to live longer, a study suggests.

Researchers gave 22,000 people aged 50-plus a list of adjectives and asked them which ones best described them. They then followed the men and women for 28 years. During that time more than 7,500 of them died – and the researchers compared their reported personality traits against their mortality.

Those who said they were organised, responsible and hardworking had a 12 to 15 per cent lower risk of mortality – and those who considered themselves to be active (with high levels of energy and vigour) had a reduced risk of 21 per cent.

The creative and outgoing had an 8 per cent lower risk, followed by the adventurous (6 per cent), friendly (4 per cent) and warm and broad-minded (3 per cent).

Meanwhile, carelessness and worrying were associated with a 7 per cent higher risk of mortality, according to the study published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research.

Neuroticism (where people experience anxiety, sadness, fear and anger on an intense and regular basis) was associated with a 10 per cent higher mortality risk, and nervousness a 9 per cent higher risk.

The academics – from the universities of Montpellier, Edinburgh, Tartu, Limerick and Florida State University – explained that the moody, worry-prone and nervous may be at risk because they're more likely to become unwell, carry extra weight, smoke or experience symptoms of depression.

They said: 'Our analysis revealed associations between personality items and mortality.

'In particular, being active, lively, organised, responsible, hardworking, thorough and helpful were related to a lower mortality risk.'