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The Relationship Between Personality and Health

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Understanding Health Determinants

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Abstract

For at least 2000 years, Western thinking has linked health and illness to personality characteristics. Personality may influence health through a person’s behavior; traits like hostility could influence health more directly by increasing stress, or a person’s physiology might influence both their temperament and their risk of disease. This chapter traces evolving models of personality, from the balance of the humors to the five-factor model and debates over the correct number of personality meta-traits. Empirical evidence showing associations between facets of personality and general health is summarized. The chapter then reviews the validity of models that link particular personality traits to disease outcomes: the Type A pattern and cardiovascular disease, Type C and cancer, and Type D and mental distress. Culture is discussed in terms of the personality of a group, and links are drawn between cultural types and personal responses to health problems. The discussion then turns to conceptualizations of positive personality traits (optimism, mastery, self-esteem, locus of control, hardiness, resilience) that appear beneficial to health. Conversely, traits such as hopelessness, powerlessness, and denial are linked to adverse health. A final section covers ways in which personality characteristics may reflect socioeconomic status and so act as mediating influences in the overall connection between social circumstances and health.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A similar issue was illustrated in a WHO study of dementia which demonstrated that screening tests appropriate for one culture may not suit others. It was found that a question such as “Does the maize ripen before the millet?” was a more valid dementia screen in West Africa than a Eurocentric question such as “When did the First World War begin?”

  2. 2.

    Eudaimonic well-being refers to feelings of contentment resulting from personal growth, from having contributed or achieved one’s purpose in life.

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    Ian McDowell

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McDowell, I. (2023). The Relationship Between Personality and Health. In: Understanding Health Determinants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28986-6_12

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