personality risk factor

Question 1

what is a risk factor?

Answer 1

A risk factor or determinant is a variable associated with an increased risk of disease or infection.

So, for example, risk factors for diabetes are family history, age, or ethnicity. You can change lifestyle risk factors around eating, physical activity, and weight, these all contribute as well.

Question 2

how does personality become a risk factor for addiction?

Answer 2

• We have all heard of the term - ‘addictive personality’ but this does not actually exist. Yet some personality traits may contribute to becoming an addict.
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) has been strongly linked to addictions, as individuals with this disorder have an impulsivity issue.
• Individuals with this
  Have a high degree of risk taking
• Prefer immediate gratification instead of long term goals
• Generally lead chaotic lives
• Eysenck also highlighted three key ‘supertraits’ that are linked to addiction
• Extraversion - Extraverts are chronically underaroused so have to take addictive substances to stimulate themselves to raise arousal in reticular activating system (CNS)
• Neuroticism - Neurotics have low emotional stability and a low tolerance for stress so they turn to addictive substances for self-medication to make themselves feel better.
• Psychoticism - Individuals with this trait are generally antisocial and impulsive - leading them to addictive substances more often than not.

Question 3

positive evaluations for personality as a risk factor?

Answer 3

• One strength of personality as an explanation for addiction is that there is research to support it. For example, Coa & Su (2006) surveyed 2620 volunteers, high school kids aged 12-18 yrs on personality variables and internet usage. 64 students diagnosed with internet addiction (2.4 %). This group had higher scores in neuroticism & psychoticism than comparison groups. This indicates that there are certain personality traits that make someone more at risk of developing an addiction, increasing the credibility of the explanation.
• One strength of personality type as risk factor is that it explains individual differences. For example , by understanding that individuals have different levels of neuroticism or psychoticism or just possess different personality traits it can explain why some people are more at risk of developing addiction than others , despite going through the same experiences. This is therefore a more well rounded view of why someone may develop an addiction.
• Finally, a strength of personality as a risk factor is that it is a more holistic risk factor than genetics. There are many more variables involved with personality than there are to do with genes, making it a more well rounded explanation. Genetics suffers from reductionism as it only explains one risk factor to addiction whereas personality can take into account numerous traits

Question 4

what is the negative evaluations for personality as a risk factor?

Answer 4

• One weakness of personality as an explanation for addiction is that it’s difficult to establish cause and effect. While we could argue that people who have certain personality traits such as neuroticism are more at risk of developing an addiction, it’s difficult to understand based on research if the addiction has caused the change in someone’s personality or if it was the personality traits that led to the development of the addiction. As this is difficult to test, it may be hardly to understand the extent to which certain personality traits contribute to the development of an addiction.