Handbook of personality and health

Jessica L. Schleider Hans S. Add to list close. Read next. More like this. Sarah E. Hampson Sarah E. Keywords personality health Big Five conscientiousness health behaviors longevity biomarkers.

Introduction Does the kind of person we are affect whether or not we will succumb to disease? Personality In the study of personality and health, trait approaches have become pre-eminent. Longitudinal Personality—Health Research Personality and Mortality The association between childhood conscientiousness and longevity observed in the Terman Life-Cycle study spurred researchers to examine this association in other samples.

Personality and Morbidity Returning to a question asked by Hippocrates and Galen, personality researchers have used the Big Five framework to see whether there are traits that are predictive of the onset of particular diseases, and disease-specific mortality. Personality and Biomarkers A cross-sectional study of personality and health in a community-based sample of over 5, Sardinians has yielded some provocative findings.

Personality and Health Mechanisms Three mechanisms to account for personality influences on health have received particular attention: health behaviors, social relationships, and stress. Health-Behavior Mechanisms Several studies demonstrate that health-behavior mechanisms account for some of the association between personality, particularly conscientiousness, and mortality e.

Social-Relationship Mechanisms Individuals who are more socially integrated tend to have better health and to live longer Seeman, , Trauma and Stress Mechanisms Trauma exposure has been reliably shown to have long-term negative consequences for physical and mental health Felitti et al. Multiple Mechanisms Research indicates that personality—health mechanisms include health behaviors, social relationships, and trauma.

Effects of Health on Personality The experience of being in poor health is often associated with changes in mood and energy levels, and the changes that accompany illness may be associated with, and perhaps are causally related, to changes in personality. Using Personality to Achieve Health Benefits The evidence for a link between personality and health is by now quite substantial. Future Directions Several aspects of personality—health research may attract increasing attention in the future.

References Barr, E. Validity of self-reported cardiovascular disease events in comparison to medical record adjudication and a statewide hospital morbidity database: The AusDiab study. Internal Medicine Journal , 39 , 49— Bogg, T. Conscientiousness and health-related behaviors: A meta-analysis of the leading behavioral contributors to mortality.

Psychological Bulletin , , — The case for conscientiousness: Evidence and implications for a personality trait marker of health and longevity. Annals of Behavioral Medicine , 45 , — Bollen, K. Autoregressive latent trajectory ALT models: A synthesis of two traditions. Sociological Methods and Research , 32 , — Carter, N. The downsides of extreme conscientiousness for psychological well-being: The role of obsessive compulsive tendencies.

Journal of Personality , 84 , — Chapman, B. Personality and perceived health in older adults: The five-factor model in primary care. Personality-informed interventions for healthy aging: Conclusions from a National Institute on Aging work group. Developmental Psychology , 50 , — Cohen, S. Emotional style and susceptibility to the common cold. Psychosomatic Medicine , 65 , — Costa, P.

Personality facets and all-cause mortality among Medicare patients aged 66 to years: A follow-on study of Weiss and Costa Psychosomatic Medicine , 76 , — Delvecchio, G.

The association between the serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitters and personality traits. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , 25 2 , — DeSalvo, K. Mortality prediction with a single general self-rated health question: A meta-analysis. Journal of General Internal Medicine , 21 3 , — Fagundes, C. Stressful early life experiences and immune dysregulation across the lifespan. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity , 27 , 8— Felitti, V.

Marks, J. Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences ACE Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine , 14 4 , — Ferguson, E. Openness to experience and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis and r equivalent from risk ratios and odds ratios. British Journal of Health Psychology , 17 , 85— Figueredo, A. Evidence for shared genetic dominance between the general factor of personality, mental and physical health, and life history traits.

Twin Research and Human Genetics , 12 , — Freud, S. Collected works: Vol. Studies on hysteria. New York: Hogarth. Freyd, J. Klest, B. Betrayal trauma: Relationship to physical health, psychological distress, and a written disclosure intervention. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation , 6 3 , 83— Friedman, H. Long-term relations of personality and health: Dynamisms, mechanisms, tropisms. Journal of Personality , 68 , — American Psychologist , 42 , — Personality, well-being, and health.

Annual Review of Psychology , 65 , — Childhood conscientiousness and longevity: Health behaviors and cause of death. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 68 , — Does childhood personality predict longevity? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 65 , — Friedman, M. Type A behavior: Its diagnosis and treatment. New York: Plenum. Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Alfred A.

Edward Bourg. Alteration of Type A behavior and reduction in cardiac occurrences in postmyocardial infarction patients. American Heart Journal , , — Funder, D. Annual Review of Psychology , 52 , — Galla, B. Journal of Personality , 8 , 69— Goffman, E. The presentation of self in everyday life. London: Penguin. Goldberg, L. Journal of Personality , 69 , — Goodwin, R.

Health status and the five-factor personality traits in a nationally representative sample. Journal of Health Psychology , 11 , — Gouin, J. Childhood abuse and inflammatory responses to daily stressors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine , 44 , — Grossardt, B. Pessimistic, anxious, and depressive personality traits predict all-cause mortality: The Mayo Clinic cohort study of personality and aging. Psychosomatic Medicine , 71 , — Hagger-Johnson, G. Low conscientiousness and risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality over 17 years: Whitehall II cohort study.

Journal of Psychosomatic Research , 73 , 98— Hampson, S. Hillier, T. Lifetime trauma, personality traits, and health: A pathway to midlife health status. Childhood conscientiousness relates to objectively measured adult physical health four decades later. Health Psychology , 32 , — A life-span behavioral mechanism relating childhood conscientiousness to adult clinical health.

Health Psychology , 34 , — Personality and health: A lifespan perspective. John , R. Pervin Eds. New York: Guilford. Hill, P. Conscientiousness and longevity: An examination of possible mediators. Health Psychology , 30 , — Houston, B. Type A behavior pattern: Research, theory, and intervention. Recently viewed 0 Save Search.

Turiano Nicholas A. Patrick L. Hill Patrick L. Louis Close. Graham Eileen K. Mroczek Daniel K. Read More. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Username Please enter your Username. World Psychiatry. Published online May Thomas A. Widiger 1 and Joshua R. Oltmanns 1. Joshua R. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Widiger, Joshua R. References 1. Widiger TA.

Handbook of individual differences in social behavior.