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People who are outgoing, hardworking, organised and relaxed don’t only shine at parties and job interviews.

They’re also less likely to suffer diseases like stroke, arthritis, and diabetes, the Daily Mail reports, citing a new study.

And those who are anxious, moody, irritable, and prone to sadness are more likely to be diagnosed with such an illness.

U.S. researchers found a strong link between personality types and disease, in the first long-term study of its kind.

They found that being highly conscientious, extroverted, open, agreeable and not very neurotic was associated with better health and lack of disease.

This could be because these types of people are more likely to eat healthily, take exercise, suffer less stress and communicate better with physicians, they said.

On the other hand, people who are highly neurotic – meaning they are anxious, worrisome, have mood swings and are often sad – are more likely to be diagnosed with a disease.

This supports previous research found that neurotic people die earlier, although why this happens is not fully understood.

One theory is that they deal less effectively with stress, so their bodies release more of the hormone cortisol, which in large amounts can damage the immune system and organs, including the brain.

Through a questionnaire testing participants’ personality, researchers scored people on the ‘Big Five’ personality traits.

These are extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness and neuroticism.

Four years later, they were asked if they had been diagnosed with a disease by a doctor.

The participants were scored on a scale of one to four on each of the personality traits.

Four meant their personality strongly displayed that trait, so a person who was scored four on the extroversion scale would be very talkative and outgoing, whereas a person who was scored one would be introverted and less talkative.

The study found women were more extroverted, agreeable, conscientious, and neurotic than men.

Older people were less extroverted, less conscientious, less neurotic, and less open than younger adults.

Married individuals were more conscientious, open and emotionally stable than people who were not married.

Interestingly, personality traits did not predict the diagnosis of cancer, one of the leading causes of death worldwide.