PSY2205 Lecture 8: Personality Types and Health Behaviour Flashcards
So just to recap den… what is personality type theory all about den…
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.
What in Jungian Personality theory?
Jung suggested there must be at least two different personality types: Extraverted and Introverted.
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.
Jung defined eight personality types using the dominant and auxiliary functions.
Jung believed that preferences are innate “inborn predispositions.”
Jung recognised that these innate preferences interact with and are shaped by environmental influences including:
Cultural background
Family environment
Education
and many other social and economic conditions
What are the two Auxiliary Functions from Jungian Personality theory?
perceiving information - via our senses or intuition.
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.
What was Jung’s contribution to personality psychology?
Jung’s theory of personality traits (extraversion-introversion) influenced:
the development of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, a widely used personality inventory.
the theorising of Hans Eysenck and others – extraversion and introversion are fundamental to most trait theories.
How did Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers develop 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.
Individuals have a preferred mode of operation within four traits or functions:
Extraverted - Introverted
Sensing - Intuitive
Thinking - Feeling
Judging - Perceiving
What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)?
Developed by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers.
Defines 16 different Personality Types.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) - is a commercially available questionnaire, widely used in business to assist employment decisions.
State a reliability issue with the MBTI
Re-test data (3 months later) indicates approximately 50% are classified as a different type.
How is individual differences concerned with health?
Health is not simply about the absence of physical or mental disease. Rather it includes the attitudes that individuals have towards their health.
Give an intro of how personality is linked to health.
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 desease (British Heart Foundation, 2010)
Therefore, globally, a lot of money has been invested in research in this area.
A link between CHD and Personality was observed. What is Type A?
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.
Type A individuals tend to
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.
Glass, (1977) identified three major traits that make up the Type A personality:
easily aroused hostility/aggression
a sense of time urgency
competitive achievement strivings/motivation
A link between CHD and Personality was observed. What is Type B?
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.
Why is Type A more likely to suffer from CHD??
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)
People high in anger and hostility tend to have strong reactions to the daily frustrations and inconveniences of life (Demroski & Costa, 1987). Unhealthy lifestyles to deal with lifes frustrations, plus poor social support, leads to weaker immune systems and enhanced cardiovascular reactivity to stress.
(Two mechanisms are proposed through which greater cardiovascular reactivity in situations of conflict promotes heart disease:
the mechanical theory
the hormone based theory)
The “sympathetic nervous system” 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).
Give some empirical evidence that Type A are more likely to suffer from CHD.
Williams et al., (2000) 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.
Myrtek (2001) - meta-analysis of prospective studies on coronary heart disease, Type A personality and hostility.
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.
A link between CHD and Personality was observed. What is Type D?
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) and social inhibition (tendency to inhibit self-expression in social interactions and social isolation)
Why might Type D’s be susceptible to CHD?
Schiffer et al (2007) - 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.
