If a Good Work Ethic is Linked to Longevity, a lot of People are Goners

I saw a link on Drudge to the Independent about a story on the connection between long life, stubbornness and a good work ethic:

Positivity, stubbornness and a conscientious work ethic could be key to living a longer life, a new study has found.

Researchers examined the mental and physical health levels of a group of Italians between the ages of 90 and 101 and found that there were many common psychological traits between them.

The study, which was published in International Psychogeriatrics concluded that the elderly participants had better overall mental well-being than their younger family members – they attributed this to their longevity…

In addition to having a sunny outlook on life, the researchers found that a lot of the elderly participants shared stubborn personality traits, which they claim can be psychologically beneficial because these people will tend to care less what others think of them.

“The main themes that emerged from our study, and appear to be the unique features associated with better mental health of this rural population, were positivity, work ethic, stubbornness and a strong bond with family, religion and land,” he added.

I wonder what a study looking at different political groups would look like.  For example, how long is the life of an urban liberal who believes in subsidies vs. a rural conservative who has a good work ethic and believes people should support themselves? Now, that would be an interesting study but I doubt anyone would take the time to do it, unless the researchers could be assured of making conservatives look bad.