Being a homebody changes your personality

While it's fun and sometimes mentally necessary, real couch potato personalities change and not necessarily for the better.

According to WHO, a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and more. It can also impact your mental health and increase your risk of depression and anxiety. Isolation from interesting normal people can not only make you more boring, but it can also change your personality while sitting on the couch.

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A French study, the largest of its kind, reveals something that is likely to send a shiver down the spine of any inactive person. Researchers using data from over 9,000 volunteers over two decades found that sedentary people in their experiment showed significant changes in character.

A team led by psychologist Yannick Stephan of the University of Montpellier studied participants across the United States and, according to Scientific American:

Stephan and his team found that subjects who reported being less active had, on average, greater declines in conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness and extroversion – four of the so-called “Big Five” personality traits – even when differences in basic personality and health were taken into account. No association was found with the fifth trait, neuroticism. The changes in traits were small, but the association with exercise was relatively strong. For example, physical activity predicted personality changes better than disease burden.

“Personality is partly what [behaviors] We do this over and over again, and changes in habits can become consolidated into changes in personality,” epidemiologist Markus Jokela from the University of Helsinki told SA.

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These results support previous evidence that adopting a sedentary lifestyle makes you less susceptible to new experiences and generally makes you less conscientious.

As SA explains, “Additional factors such as genetics or previous life events can influence both exercise levels and personality,” but it supports the idea that personality is related to health.

Not being a homebody doesn't mean participating in Tough Mudder every year, but it does mean getting out, doing things, and meeting new people. And exposing your mind to new ideas, concepts and flavors…beyond what you see on a screen.

Even though exercise may not always seem like the most fun option in everyday life, it is necessary if you want to be someone who works hard and achieves your life goals. We also need to realize that there is a difference between being a homebody and someone who enjoys a bit of R&R at the end of the day. Sitting on the couch and streaming The Gilded Age, The Expanse, or another favorite show is perfectly fine, as long as you don't do it for weeks.