Psychology of Personality - Adjustment Domain

PSYC 3320

adjustment domain

your personality changes the way you adapt to situations, esp stressful events

health psychology

personality affects stress response affects your physical health

stress

subjective, perceived to be uncontrollable and demanding

your personal outlook (optimism, realism, pessimism) shapes your interpretation of what is stressful

• distress: negative/bad stress

• eustress: good stress, motivating/rewarding

models of personality-illness connection

• interactional model

• transactional model

• health behavior model

• predisposition model

• illness behavior model

interactional model (models of personality-illness connection)

objective events capable of producing stress cause physiological response

SNS: cortisol and adrenaline up, fight or flight

PSNS: resting, digesting

• coping responses

• physiological arousal

• illness

transactional model (models of personality-illness connection)

our personality shapes perception of what is stressful and in turn makes us influence those events

stress ←→ behavior

moderator: influences the relationship between variables (direction, strength)

• coping

• interpreting stressful events

• influencing stressful events

health behavior model (models of personality-illness connection)

personality does not directly impact health

personality creates health behaviors that then impact health

mediator: influences one of the variables directly, may create a relationship

• ex: being health conscious/vigilant

predisposition model (models of personality-illness connection)

personality and illness are reflections of genetic predispositions

we are predisposed to certain responses or outcomes, but they are not set in stone as long as you are aware and make conscious choices

illness behavior model (models of personality-illness connection)

actions a person might take when they think they have an illness

• ex: some people are stoic, some are anxious; ignoring illness vs going to doctor

  • healthy neuroticism and vigilance vs hypochondria

• normal physiological sensations

  • heightened awareness of physiological sensations

    • labeling of symptoms as illness

      • reports of symptoms