Hearing loss already brings with it a myriad of problems. Recent research from the National Institute of Mental Health suggests that loss of hearing can actually have a negative impact on personality. This finding was published in the Journal of Personality.
The study mentioned above studied a geriatric group of 400 participants aged between 80 and 98 years, for a 6 year period. Two of the major personality traits that were explored were extraversion and neuroticism.
Extraversion is known as the natural tendency of a person to be outgoing, friendly, loquacious, and gregarious. Neuroticism is known as the tendency of a person to be anxious, irritable, and resentful. The researchers of the study aimed to assess and predict the shifts in personality traits based on hearing loss as their age progressed.
The researchers found that as they grew older, participants that were high on extraversion grew more reclusive. No changes in the rate of neuroticism were found in the participants.
The most important finding that was reported by the researchers was that the reduction in the level of extraversion was attributed directly to the level of hearing loss faced by the participants.
The findings suggests that even though the level of neuroticism remains unchanged for people with hearing loss, there is definitely a significant reduction in the level of extraversion. This reduced level of extraversion could be due to social isolation caused by hearing loss.
Social withdrawal causes various other mental health disorders such as depression, paranoia, and anxiety. It is therefore important that those with hearing loss use hearing aids to make sure that their hearing damage does not rob them of their strongest personality traits and diminish who they really are.