7 - Wealth Happiness, and Health

Flashcards based on lecture notes about the relationship between personality, health, wealth and behavior.

Does more money make you happier?

Income is a small but robust predictor of life satisfaction.

How do losses and gains affect utility, according to prospect theory?

Losses have twice the impact on utility than equivalent gains.

Which personality trait is associated with how life satisfaction responds to losses versus gains in income?

Conscientiousness predicts how life satisfaction responds to losses versus gains in income.

Why might losses loom larger for those higher in conscientiousness?

Conscientious individuals place great value on economic outcomes and success.

How does conscientiousness relate to marital satisfaction differently for men and women?

For women only, high conscientiousness is linked to increased satisfaction over the years of marriage.

How do extraversion and introversion relate to marital satisfaction differently for men and women?

For women, introversion is associated with increased satisfaction across marriage, while for men, it is extraversion.

How does personality influence the effect of drugs on your body?

Symptom reporting, interaction with doctors, treatment adherence, pathogenesis, and mortality.

What happens in viral challenge studies?

Expose 50% to a pathogen and 50% to a placebo, keep in isolation, and examine daily for symptoms.

What are the two main outcomes measured in studies of personality and health?

Signs (clinical blood tests) and symptoms (what people report).

What are some covariates that can affect susceptibility to diseases and their progression?

Age, time of year, nutrition, and depression.

How does neuroticism relate to symptom reporting?

Those high in Neuroticism report more symptoms and more severe symptoms whether or not they are actually ill.

What is the interplay between neuroticism, conscientiousness, and symptom reporting?

Having a cold leads to more symptom and illness reports, neuroticism leads to more symptom reporting, and conscientiousness leads to more illness reporting.

What recall bias do people with neuroticism have?

People with neuroticism tend to recall symptoms worse than they actually were.

According to Lazarus's transactional model, what are the stages following a stressful event?

Primary appraisal (threat vs. challenge), secondary appraisal (what can be done), coping strategies, and outcome.

How are different personality traits linked to different coping strategies?

Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness are linked to engagement coping strategies, while Neuroticism is associated with disengagement strategies.

Which personality trait is linked to the most overall engagement coping strategies

Extraversion (r = .15), Conscientiousness (r = .11) and Openness (r = .10) are linked to overall engagement coping strategies (e.g., problem solving)

How do lab studies test the effect of odors on illness?

Pair odour and symptoms (CO2 enriched air - causes respiratory symptoms) then test if odour causes symptoms.

What is the biggest predictor of how well you do in your job?

Cognitive ability (.48 UK, .51 USA).

Besides IQ what character trait adds significantly on to how well you do at work?

Conscientiousness adds significantly on to how well you do at work.

How does conscientiousness relate to medical school performance?

Conscientiousness is initially a positive predictor of exams but as the role changes and becomes less order and more stressful it becomes a negative predictor.

In medicine with Ultrasound: Guided Regional Anaesthesia (UGRA) -What skills are assessed that contribute to better medical outcomes?

Mental rotation skills.

What is the relationship between conscientiousness and compliance with medication use?

High conscientiousness predicts higher compliance with medication use.

How does neuroticism affect antibody responses to illness?

High antibody responses are beneficial when fighting illness, but for those high in neuroticism, antibody responses are lower.

How do the Big Five personality traits relate to health behaviors and risk?

N = traffic risk, E = exercise and sex, O = drug taking and sex, A = accident control, C = wellness behaviors.

Which of the Big Five personality traits result in extra years to live?

Extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness all result in extra years to live.

What are the two major facets of the Type D or 'Distressed' personality?

Negative affect (NA) and social inhibition (SI).

Which health behaviour is associated with Cluster 2 of the regional personalities?

Engage in physical exercise, eat healthily, and don't smoke.

How does situational strength relate to individual traits in the context of depression and pain?

The association between individual-level depression and pain is stronger when country-level-aggregate depression is low and weaker when it's high.

What traits are included in a Prosocial Phenotype (PP)?

Blood donor, organ donor registration, donate money to charity, volunteer time for a charity.