Subjective Health Literacy and Personality in Older Adults: Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness as Key Predictors—A Cross-Sectional Study

Low health literacy (HL) is associated with numerous negative health behaviors and outcomes, making it crucial to understand its underlying determinants. While associations between sociodemographic variables and subjective HL have already been demonstrated, data on the association between HL and personality remain limited. This study aims to extend the current knowledge by exploring how personality traits influence HL, beyond the effects of sociodemographic variables on HL. A cross-sectional study was performed with a sample of 238 healthy participants aged 50 to 92 years. Personality was measured using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and subjective health literacy using the HLS-EU-Q47 questionnaire. Descriptive and correlational analyses as well as a multiple linear regression analysis with the Big Five personality traits, sex, age, and education as predictors of subjective health literacy were performed. The General-HL index was 37.22 (SD 7.98), which corresponds to sufficient or non-limited health literacy. The Big Five personality traits accounted for 32.2% of the variance in health literacy. Of the traits, Conscientiousness emerged as the strongest predictor (β = 0.31, medium effect), followed by Neuroticism (β = -0.21, small effect) and Openness to experience (β = 0.15, small effect). Sex was also a significant predictor of health literacy (β = 0.14, small effect). These results suggest that personality plays a significant role in health literacy, with higher Conscientiousness, lower Neuroticism, and higher Openness to experience, as well as female sex, predicting better health literacy. These findings underscore the importance of considering personality traits in interventions aimed at improving health literacy, with potential implications for both theoretical understanding and practical application in healthcare settings.