Personality type theory - Personality and health

Question 1

Personality type theory

Answer 1

The typological approach to personality is underpinned by the assumption that people are qualitatively different from each other - there are different types of people.

Type theory focuses on patterns of traits that characterise people and sorts these patterns into types of people.

The aim of type theory is to classify people into categories that are distinct and discontinuous - you are either one type or the other.

Still working with traits – can’t create type without measuring traits that make it up

Question 2

personality type approach

Answer 2

you are either an introvert or an extravert.

Categorising someone as either an extravert or introvert reflects a type approach.

Question 3

personality trait approach

Answer 3

you can be anywhere on a continuum ranging from introversion to extraversion.

He/she is somewhat extraverted - Characterising someone as a bit or somewhat extraverted reflects a dimensional trait approach.

Question 4

Sheldon’s somatotypes

Answer 4

ectomorph

mesomorph

endomorph

Question 5

endomorph

Answer 5

relaxed, sociable, tolerant, comfort-loving, peaceful

plump, buxom, developed visceral structure

Question 6

mesopmorph

Answer 6

active, assertive, vigorous, combative

muscular

Question 7

ectomorph

Answer 7

quiet, fragile, restrained, non-assertive, sensitive

lean, delicate, poor muscles

Question 8

an early personality typology

Answer 8

The Ancient Greeks: “The Four Humors”

Excess blood = sanguine (cheerful), ruddy and robust.

Excess black bile = melancholic and depressed.

Excess yellow bile/choler = choleric, angry and bitter.

Excess phlegm = phlegmatic, cold and apathetic.

Question 9

contemporary research in health psychology

Answer 9

Having a “Type A” Personality (chronic hostility/choleric) appears to raise the risk of having a heart attack.

Question 10

Jungian personality theory

Answer 10

Following his split from Freud, Jung developed his own theory of personality types – agreed with unconscious

Drawing upon the work of Freud and Adler along with his own clinical observations Jung suggested there must be at least two different personality types:

• Extraversion – focuses more on the external world – externally orientated
• Introversion – focuses more on the internal world - internally oriented

Question 11

Jungian types

Answer 11

Jung recognised that individuals are never wholly extraverted or introverted but incorporate aspects of both, although one type predominates in an individual’s functioning.

Jung believed that preferences are innate “inborn predispositions.”

Question 12

Jungian types - dominant function

Answer 12

Extraversion or Introversion
- To address the differences that existed within groups of introverts and extraverts Jung classified the ways in which people can relate to the world according to two Auxiliary Functions.

Question 13

Jungian types - 2 auxiliary functions

Answer 13

each with two opposite ways of functioning (ways of relating to the world within the dominant functions):

1. perceiving information - via our senses or intuition.
2. making decisions - objective logic or subjective feelings.

Auxiliary functions are ‘preferences’ – we can use both but we have a preference for one over the other.
- Think of this like ‘handedness’. We use both hands but we have a strong preference for one over the other.

Question 14

Jung’s extraverted types

Answer 14

Extraverted Sensing
Extraverted Intuition
Extraverted Thinking
Extraverted Feeling

Question 15

Jung’s introverted types

Answer 15

Introverted Sensing
Introverted Intuition
Introverted Thinking
Introverted Feeling

Question 16

what env influences did Jung recognise innate preferences interact with?

Answer 16

Cultural background

Family environment

Education

and many other social and economic conditions

Question 17

Briggs and Myers

Answer 17

developed Jung’s typology.

Described a fourth auxiliary function or preference - how we deal with the world on a day-to-day basis

• Judging preference – prefer ordered and structured environment.
• Perceiving preference – prefer flexible, unstructured environment.

define 16 different Personality Types.

Question 18

preferred mode of operation within 4 traits/functions

Answer 18

Extraverted - Introverted
Sensing - Intuitive
Thinking - Feeling
Judging - Perceiving

Question 19

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Answer 19

commercially available questionnaire, widely used in business to assist employment decisions.

• However, empirical evidence questions the reliability and validity of the MBTI.
• The existence of these 16 types has also been questioned.
• Re-test data (3 months later) indicates approximately 50% are classified as a different type – personality is unlikely to change in this short period – little use for predicting behaviour

Question 20

indv diffs - health and illness

Answer 20

Long history to the study of individual differences in health and illness (e.g., Four humours etc).

Contemporary times – Health Psychology and Positive Psychology.

• People react differently to health and illness.
  
  • Cancer – “feeling fine all things considered”.
  • Heavy cold – acting as though at death’s door.
• Health is not simply about the absence of physical or mental disease. Rather it includes the attitudes that individuals have towards their health. It is here that individual differences matter.

Question 21

personality, health and illness

Answer 21

Considering how certain personality types might be linked to health and illness and in particular cardiovascular disease.

Heart disease is a global problem:
- 17.4 million deaths worldwide (WHO, 2005)

In the UK heart disease and related circulatory illnesses are the main cause of death:
- 198,000 deaths each year (1 in 5 men and 1 in 8 women die from coronary heart disease (British Heart Foundation, 2010) – gender inequalities and issues with the evidence

Therefore, globally, a lot of money has been invested in research in this area.

Question 22

type A personality

Answer 22

There is a long history linking heart disease to personality and looking for a causal link. Modern interest was stirred by Friedman and Rosenman (1959).

• These physicians tried but could not predict cardiovascular disease from physical factors alone so started to examine personality factors.
• Observed a relationship between coronary heart disease and certain emotional and psychological characteristics.

They identified a coronary-prone behaviour pattern which they labelled “Type A” personality and contrasted this with non-coronary prone “Type B” personality (Friedman & Rosenman, 1974).

The emotional and behavioural style of a Type A individual is marked by an aggressive ongoing struggle to achieve more in less time and often in competition with other people.

Question 23

type A indvs tend to

Answer 23

lead fast paced lives, work longer hours and longer weeks than Type B individuals.

be intolerant of others and have a need for control.

show different physiological responses to stress compared with other types of people.

Question 24

type B personality

Answer 24

Very relaxed and unhurried in approach.

Might work hard sometimes but are not driven in the compulsive manner of the Type A.

Less interested in competition, power or achievement and are more able to take life as it comes.

Question 25

type A indvs

Answer 25

Appear to suffer an increased risk of heart disease.

Can sacrifice their social and familial relationships to achievement striving (e.g., Carver & Humphries, 1982; Blaney, Brown, & Blaney, 1986).

Have more driving accidents than Type B drivers (e.g., Evans et al., 1987; Nabi et al., 2005).

Question 26

misconceptions

Answer 26

Type A and Type B personalities are not ‘true’ categorical types.

• Not two distinct categories but dimensional, arranged on a continuum, ranging from one extreme to the other with most people falling somewhere around the middle. (E.g., normal distribution). Type A at one extreme and Type B at the other.
• Type A personality is not a single trait but a syndrome of several traits.

Question 27

Glass (1977)

Answer 27

identified three major traits that make up the Type A personality:

1. easily aroused hostility/aggression
2. a sense of time urgency
3. competitive achievement strivings/motivation

Question 28

Friedman (1996)

Answer 28

“Type A Behavior: Its Diagnosis and Treatment.”

Culmination of decades of experience as a physician and researcher.

Question 29

type A personality and health

Answer 29

Several studies have shown Type A personality to be a predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) (e.g., Rosenman et al., 1964, 1975; Haynes et al., 1978a, 1978b; Jenkins, Zyzanski & Rosenman, 1976).

However other studies have not found any association Cohen & Reed, 1985; Johnston et al., 1987; Wannamethee et al., 1997).

Several reviews of the research literature have been conducted to try to identify reasons for this inconsistency.
- Methodology and measurement issues were identified as problems. Some researchers use structured interviews while others use self-report questionnaires. Studies using questionnaire measures where less likely to find an association between Type A and CHD compared with studies using a structured interview method (Suls & Wan, 1989; Wan & Costa, 1996).

Question 30

more recent research

Answer 30

focussed on trying to identify the ‘toxic’ components of Type A behaviour. Findings indicate not all dimensions of the Type A behaviour syndrome increase risk of CHD.

• The anger and hostility component is more strongly implicated as a risk factor for CHD than the other dimensions of Type A behaviour (e.g., Dembroski, & Costa, 1987, 1989; Krantz & McCeney, 2002).
• People high in anger and hostility tend to have strong reactions to the daily frustrations and inconveniences of life (Demroski & Costa, 1987).
• A recent meta-analysis of 45 studies concluded that hostility/anger was associated with a 20% increased risk of CHD developing and also led to poorer outcomes for people with existing CHD (Childa & Steptoe, 2009)

Question 31

type A personality and CHD - Williams et al. (2000)

Answer 31

studied 12,986 healthy, middle aged men and women over a 4 ½ year period.

Participants with high scores on the anger trait were twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease compared with those who had low scores. They were also nearly three times as likely to be hospitalized or die from heart disease during the study.

Question 32

Myrtek (2001)

Answer 32

meta-analysis of prospective studies on coronary heart disease, Type A personality and hostility – questioned how strong association is – look at magnitude of the effects

Findings did not show an association between the more general behaviour patterns of Type A personalities but did show an association between coronary heart disease and hostility.

Question 33

how are anger and hostility related to CHD?

Answer 33

Possible connections - unhealthy lifestyles, poor social support, weaker immune systems and enhanced cardiovascular reactivity to stress.

Hostile individuals engage in more high-risk health behaviours that enhance CHD risk. Higher hostility is associated with more caffeine consumption, higher weight, smoking, alcohol consumption and hypertension (Siegler, Peterson, Barefoot & Wlliams, 1992; T.W. Smith, 1992).

Question 34

type A personality and CHD

Answer 34

Enhanced cardiovascular reactivity to stress is thought to provide the most important connection between anger, hostility and CHD.

The “sympathetic nervous system” (overdrive system – restrict arteries) is chronically hyper-reactive in people who exhibit Type A behaviour.

Type A personalities secrete excessive amounts of epinephrine and norepinephrine (which plays a part in the constriction and dilation of blood vessels and has a role in the onset of heart problems).

Interventions aimed at reducing stress, anger and hostility and at altering lifestyle patterns seem to be effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems.

Question 35

what mechanisms are proposed through which greater CV reactivity in situs of conflict promote HD?

Answer 35

the mechanical theory

the hormone based theory

Question 36

type D personality

Answer 36

More recent research examining links between personality and CHD have identified a cluster of traits which are risk factors (Kupper & Denollet, 2007; Dickens et al, 2007).

• Depression
• Low levels of social support
• High hostility and anger (overlaps with Type A).

Question 37

type D personality and HD - Denollet, (2005)

Answer 37

originally formulated the Type D or Distressed Personality Type:

• Found depression and low perceived social support related to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality
• Type D personality might predispose people to CHD through combining two personality traits: negative affectivity (tendency to experience negative emotions; depression – related to neutroticism) and social inhibition (tendency to inhibit self-expression in social interactions and social isolation – severe introspection)

Question 38

Steptoe and Molloy (2007)

Answer 38

negative affectivity traits such as depression, anxiety and anger–hostility are related to heart disease

Question 39

Schiffer et al. (2007)

Answer 39

highlight a particular behavioural mechanism that might partially explain the link between type D personality and CHD.

• Patients with type D personality and chronic heart failure were less likely to report cardiac symptoms such as swollen legs/feet or shortness of breath to clinical staff.
• Lack of reporting was not because patients did not experience symptoms; their symptom reports were greater than those of other patients, suggesting their reluctance was a consequence of increased levels of social inhibition.

Question 40

do we need another personality type

Answer 40

Exciting area of research given the findings so far.

Better to understand traits rather than clustering them into types

Question 41

remaining Qs

Answer 41

How is it that personality traits increase the risk for CHD and increase mortality? Ongoing research looking at possible mechanisms (e.g., Whitehead et al, 2007).

Is Type D really a stable personality type or is it a response to illness given it is usually assessed in patients diagnosed with CHD. Cause-effect? – done on patients already diagnosed – diagnosis may have caused the symptoms

Question 42

strengths of personality types

Answer 42

Types may be useful in the way they summarise many traits in a single label (Costa et al., 2002).

Question 43

personality types weaknesses

Answer 43

Type theory in general can be criticized because it overlooks the multi-dimensional and continuous nature of personality traits.

The use of types may obscure some important differences among people in the same category, there may be substantial heterogeneity among people of the same type – think about cross-cultural applications

Question 44

Lester (2019)

Answer 44

Aelius Galenus (129–200/216 AD), commonly referred as Galen of Pergamon or simply as Galen, was a Greek physician and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Earlier, Hippocrates (460–370 BC) had proposed that there were four bodily humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm), and imbalances in these humors result in human moods. Galen associated each of these four humors with a personality type: sanguine (blood), phlegmatic (phlegm), choleric (yellow bile), and melancholic (black bile).

Modern psychologists have rejected the connection between the four temperaments and the bodily humors, but they have accepted that people may be characterized by the four temperaments proposed by Galen. They have also sought to understand them in modern terms. For example, Wundt (1903) used the two dimensions of changeability/unchangeability and emotional/unemotional to produce the four types:

Question 45

Hu et al. (2018)

Answer 45

People infer the personalities of others from their facial appearance. Whether they do so from body shapes is less studied. We explored personality inferences made from body shapes. Participants rated personality traits for male and female bodies generated with a three-dimensional body model. Multivariate spaces created from these ratings indicated that people evaluate bodies on valence and agency in ways that directly contrast positive and negative traits from the Big Five domains. Body-trait stereotypes based on the trait ratings revealed a myriad of diverse body shapes that typify individual traits. Personality-trait profiles were predicted reliably from a subset of the body-shape features used to specify the three-dimensional bodies. Body features related to extraversion and conscientiousness were predicted with the highest consensus, followed by openness traits. This study provides the first comprehensive look at the range, diversity, and reliability of personality inferences that people make from body shapes.

Question 46

Kenneth and Matthew (2013)

Answer 46

Constitutional psychology, the theory put forth by Sheldon, refers to “the study of the psychological aspects of human behaviour as they are related to the morphology and physiology of the body.” In the face of indifference or hostility to the possibility of important associations between structural and behavioural characteristics, the work of William H. Sheldon stands as a unique contribution on the contemporary scene. In general, it seems fair to say that African psychologists have tacitly less attention to the study of this important class of variables having to do with the physical description of the body. Now, it is adapted to the African Culture and environment; thus this forms the significant basis of this study. So, it is the purpose of this study to specifically ascertain the culture - environmental applicability of Sheldon’s theory on personality traits in Africa. Two hypotheses drawn as follows were tested to measure relationships and differences between the body types and personality traits of individuals in the African culturally influenced community or environment. In this study we shall attempt to place Sheldon’s work in brief historical perspective and then describe his formulations and investigations. A quantitative survey design was applied, with a validated 36 - item questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to 242 (two hundred and forty two) University of The Gambia students by stratified sampling technique based on body types (whether endomorph, mesomorph or ectomorph). The physical body type an individual possesses has an influence on the behaviour or personality of that individual, as posited by Sheldon’s constitutional theory. This was confirmed, even when applied in the African society specifically in The Gambia, by this study.

Question 47

Ross and Margoli (2018)

Answer 47

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) scheme has guided the research agenda of the National Institute of Mental Health for the past decade. The essence of RDoC is its dimensional conception of mental illness, with the assumption that psychopathology is a manifestation of extremes along axes of neuropsychological variation. Research, it follows, should emphasize normal neuropsychological function and its associated neurocircuitry. We argue that RDoC, dressed in terms of modern neurobiology, is in fact a return to the humoral theory of Galen, a dimensional approach in which physical and mental health requires a balance of the four basic bodily humors (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm). The RDoC/Galenic approach may be useful in understanding those conditions best understood as extremes along a continuum, such as personality disorders. However, we contend that for the most severe psychiatric disorders – categorically defined diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism – RDoC’s Galenic dimensionalism is a retreat from the biomedical approach that seeks to find rational therapeutic targets by identifying etiologic factors and pathogenic pathways. Abandoning this medical model now, in the context of remarkable advances in genetics, neuroimaging, and neuroscience, is a major setback for the advancement of scientific psychiatry.

Question 48

Veit (2015)

Answer 48

This volume examines the development of ancient humoral pathology in the Middle Ages. While in ancient times an imbalance of the four humors of the blood, yellow or red bile, black bile and mucus was the cause of disease, since the twelfth century the innate preponderance of a body-fluid has been interpreted as an individual temperament, whereby a human being as a sanguine, choleric, melancholic or phlegmatic can be determined. By means of the four-scheme, important personality factors are thus captured, and the personality psychology of humans becomes writable.

Question 49

Plessen et al. (2020)

Answer 49

Health-promoting and health-endangering humor styles as measured with the Humor Styles Questionnaire have been repeatedly associated with personality traits. Yet, a comprehensive meta-analysis of all currently available studies on this topic as well as an exploration of the highly heterogeneous effect sizes found in this literature is still missing. We provide an updated overview of the literature, synthesize its results in a random effects model meta-analysis, and explore possible moderators. An extensive literature search identified 24 studies from 13 countries (N = 11,791). Health-promoting humor styles were positively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, and negatively correlated with neuroticism. Health-endangering humor styles were positively associated with neuroticism and negatively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness. Between-study heterogeneity ranged from I2 = 41% to 96% and could be only partially explained by moderator variables. The effects appear robust with respect to individual studies, publication bias, and measurement error, and appear mostly generalizable across sexes, sample composition, and continent. Further research is required to examine these associations in less developed countries, possible moderators for the high amount of effect size heterogeneity, and the development of these associations across the lifespan.