L3a Personality and physical health

What is the general finding of Weiss & Costa (2005) regarding personality and longevity, what does this finding suggest?

Certain personality domains predict differences in five-year survival rates in adults aged 65–100, suggesting personality contributes to physical health and longevity.

What are Matthews et al. (2009)’s four pathways linking personality to health?

direct causation, correlation, causal chain and somatogenic

What is this pathway between personality and health

direct causation, the activation of a biological mechanism

What pathway between personality and health is this

correlational, trait isn’t causing change in health but there is a common factor

What pathway between personality and health is this

causal chain, a trait makes a behaviour more likely which effects our health

What pathway between personality and health is this

somatogenic, when aspects of our health cause change to our personality

What did Friedman & Rosenman (1959) originally propose about ‘disease-prone’ personality types? (what type and what traits)

Type A behaviour pattern predicts cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially traits like hostility and anger.

How was Type A originally measured and what was its downside (focused on which components)?

interview mainly capturing hostility/anger rather

What new measure of Type A personality made (JAS)

Jenkins Activity Survey

What is the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS)?

A self-report measure assessing a broader range of Type A traits

Did meta-analyses find a link between type A personality and CVD risk (reason?)?

found a modest effect but inconsistencies in findings, likely due to differences in assessment tools

What are Glass’s (1977) three components of Type A?

Achievement striving, Sense of urgency, and Hostility

Which of Glass’s components of Type A personality associated most with CVD, according to Chida and Steptoe

hostility/anger most strongly linked to CVD.

What kind of mechanism explains Chida and Steptoe’s findings on hostility association with CVD

direct causation effect

What did Kissen & Eysenck (1963) propose about personality related to lung cancer?

Suggested a “cancer-prone personality,” – type c

What 2 Big 5 traits related to Type C – cancer prone personality

high E and low N

What does Denollet’s (2000) Type D personality describe (2 characteristics and the outcome)?

A distressed personality profile with depression and social inhibition associated with poor cardiac outcomes.

3 reasons why focusing on traits rather than types might be more useful?

Traits allow for dimensional measurement, minimise stereotyping, and better predict specific health mechanisms.

What did Chapman, Roberts & Duberstein (2011) conclude about conscientiousness link with health outcome?

strong link with longevity

What behavioural mechanisms link high conscientiousness to better health?

health behaviours such as regular exercise, healthy diet, and low levels of smoking and substance abuse

What biological mechanisms may link conscientiousness to health?

high conscientiousness lead to better coping mechanisms leading to lower stress responses and higher longevity

What did O’Connor et al. (2009) find about conscientiousness and daily stress?

Higher conscientiousness is associated with fewer daily stressors and better coping.

Explain the causal behavioural chain between neuroticism and longevity

high neuroticism leads to low exercise, low diet and high smoking, reducing longevity

What factor could explain the chain between high neuroticism and reduce longevity, suggesting a correlational relationship

socio-economic status

What is the concept of ‘healthy vs unhealthy neuroticism’, according to Friedman?

high anxiety but low depression and vulnerability can prompt engagement in preventative behaviours and increase longevity

Which facets of extraversion predict poorer health outcomes?

Impulsivity and excitement-seeking, which relate to addictive and risky behaviours.

What facets of extraversion can prove to be protective?

Through greater social support, engagement, and stress buffering.

What is Weiss et al. (2013)’s gorilla study evidence and what pathway mechanism does this suggest?

Extraversion predicted longer survival in gorillas, suggesting evolutionary or biological mechanisms = direct biological pathway

What 3 mechanisms might explain extraversion’s protective effects in gorillas?

Stronger social ties, immune functioning differences, and lower stress reactivity.

how does openness to experience lead to increased longevity

engagement with cognitive and educational activities increase an individual’s cognitive reserve, enabling them to make health decision making

what big 5 traits are associated with longevity

all but extraversion and neuroticism which can go either way

What did Waxman et al. (2013) find regarding very low birth weight (VLBW) with adult personality?

Lower E and O, higher N, A, C, higher cautiousness

What 3 mechanisms may link LBW to adult personality?

Extra-uterine brain development, early illness, and increased parental monitoring.

What big 5 traits did chronic disease cause to decrease and what was the nature of this relationship

E, emotional stability (N), C and O, dose-dependent

Which disease had the greater and least change on personality

stroke most, cancer least

What are 4) potential mechanisms explaining impact of disease on personality change (highlight what big 5 trait each mechanism is related to)

neural function, coping with distress and challenges of disease (N), fatigue (E ) and lowered ability to organise life (C )

What are the ‘5 Ts’ practical applications for personality-informed health interventions (Hagger-Johnson & Pollard Whiteman, 2008)?

Targeting, Tailoring, Training, Treatment, and Transformation