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The above charts — taken from a recent Financial Times
Why does this matter?
Well, according to Burn-Murdoch's article (tweet summary here), the two strongest predictors for overall life success are conscientiousness and neuroticism. These traits are more important than a person's socio-economic background and raw cognitive abilities. They predict career success, the likelihood of getting a divorce, health and life expectancy, financial stability, and more.
Conscientiousness is defined as "the quality of wishing to do one's work or duty well and thoroughly." But simply speaking, conscientious people tend to dependable, disciplined, and committed. They are careful and deliberate, rather than careless and impulsive.
Neuroticism, on the other hand, is generally defined around emotional reactivity. Psychologists define it in terms of the degree that someone is prone to things like anxiety, self-doubt, and sadness. Someone with high neuroticism might, for example, feel easily stressed, worry excessively, and/or dwell on past mistakes. This trait predicts outcomes that run in the opposite direction of conscientiousness: lower career satisfaction, higher divorce rates, reduced life expectancy, and so on. It can also heighten risk perception, which makes neurotic people more likely to overlook potential opportunities.
So once again, it is alarming that these two traits are shifting meaningfully in the wrong directions for young people. Burn-Murdoch puts at least part of the blame on our hyper-connected and high-distraction digital lives. He also hypothesizes that AI could exacerbate this problem. If you're a high conscientious person you might use LLMs to supercharge your abilities; whereas if you're a low conscientious person you might use them to further check out.
The good news is that these traits can be trained. We are all products of our habits and environments. And I'm finding it personally helpful to even just write about these findings. It is also reminding me of a good friend of mine from grad school who used to always espouse something that he liked to call "casual intensity." His thinking was that you need to be on top of things and get shit done. But don't stress about it. Be confident in your abilities.
I think that's a good way to try and approach things.
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Brandon Donnelly
Which reminds me of an essay, Stop Reading the News, on fs.blog
This is a fascinating and important analysis. You've clearly articulated a worrying trend regarding the decline in conscientiousness and the rise in neuroticism, particularly among younger generations. Your point about the potential causes, especially the shift away from tangible, real-world challenges towards the curated and often anxiety-inducing world of social media, really resonates. I wonder if a related factor is the changing nature of work and education itself. With the move towards more abstract, knowledge-based work and less emphasis on trades or physically demanding tasks, perhaps we've inadvertently removed a natural environment for developing conscientiousness—the kind that comes from building, fixing, or growing tangible things. Thank you for raising this conversation with such clarity and backing it with data. It’s given me a lot to think about.
It is good to be conscious when someone is free from depression and anxiety
Cool article... Thank you for sharing this!
glad you enjoyed. not exactly city-building related!
Conscientiousness and neuroticism are moving in the wrong directions — particularly for young people https://brandondonnelly.com/conscientiousness-and-neuroticism-are-moving-in-the-wrong-directions-—-particularly-for-young-people