Week 5 Lecture 8 - personality and physical health Flashcards
What did a study that looked at the 5 year survival rates for recipients of ‘Medicare’ aged 65-100 yrs find?
- those high in conscientiousness had higher rates of survival
- were half as likely to die
What are the 4 potential pathways between personality and health?
- direct causation
- correlational
- causal change
- somatogenic
Friedman and Rosenman (1959):
Looked at personality factors that predict cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
What did they conclude?
- Type A ——— Type B
- on a continuum
Type A:
- competitive, driven, impatient, anger, hostility
Type B:
- relaxed, take life as it comes
- Type A had increased risk of CVD
What are 2 ways of measuring Type A personality?
- Original ‘challenging’ interview-based measure mainly captured anger & hostility components
- Self-report ‘Jenkins Activity Survey’ (Jenkins, Zyzanski & Rosenman, 1979) covers broader range of components –> also captured components of impatience and time available
What did a meta-analysis on Type A personality and CVD risk find?
- A significant but modest effect of Type A on CVD
- Differences in results related to inconsistencies in personality assessments used
Glass separated Type A personality into 3 components
What were they?
- competitively striving for achievement
- sense of urgency
- hostility –> seen as most toxic
What did a meta-analysis by Chida & Steptoe (2009) conclude? (type A)
Anger and hostility are significantly associated with heart disease incidence & prognosis
Apart from Type A - Type B, what other “disease-prone” personality types are there?
Cancer-prone –> Type C:
- Kissen & Eysenck –> high E, Low N
- supresses and represses emotions
Distressed –> Type D:
- Denollet
- depressed and socially inhibited
Is there evidence for Type C?
- little convincing evidence
- much of Eysenck’s subsequent work on this topic considered questionable
Is there evidence for Type D?
- poorer recovery from heart attack and increased risk of future heart problems
Is there a link between conscientiousness and longevity?
yes
What are 2 potential mechanisms behind the link between conscientiousness and longevity?
Causal behavioural chain mechanism:
- C –> healthy behaviours –> increased longevity
Causal biological chain mechanism:
- C –> better coping mechanisms –> lowers interleukin-6 –> increased longevity
What is high C associated with?
- fewer daily stressors
- better coping if stressors are experienced
What can high N lead to?
reduced longevity
Is the evidence that high N leads to reduced longevity clear?
no
- Some confounding of socio-economic status (SES).
- Some inconsistent results
In what cases can N lead to increased longevity?
“healthy N”
- high anxiety but low depression and vulnerability
- engagement in preventative behaviours
How has E been linked to longevity?
Chapman, Roberts & Duberstein (2011):
- Mixed results for extraversion.
- Different effects of specific facets…
- Positive associations between E and mortality partly explained by smoking.
Ploubidis & Grundy (2009)
- 9003 people completed EPI
- 5755 followed up 20 years later
- Higher E associated with increased mortality
-Excitement-seeking/ impulsivity facets associated with destructive addictive behaviours
What evidence is there for protective effects of extraversion?
Weiss et al. (2013): Some evidence for:
- warmth, positive emotions –> more social ties + support, active and engaged life
- increased longevity
- E –> increased immune functioning
Weiss et al. (2012):
- Personality ratings of 283 captive Western Mountain Gorillas
- Rated on ‘Gorilla Behavior Index’ in 1993
What traits were they rated on?
Extraversion
- Active: moves a lot
- Playful: initiates play and joins in when play is solicited.
- Sociable: seeks companionship of others
Dominance
- Strong: depends on sturdiness and muscular strength.
Fearful (N)
- Insecure: hesitates to act alone
Understanding (A)
- Protective: prevents harm or possible harm to others
Weiss et al. (2012) examined personality predictors of survival for extraverted goriilas
What was found?
E May represent:
- Immune functioning
- Stronger social ties/support
- Lower cardiovascular disease
Protective effects of extraversion are ‘old’
Is openness to experienced linked to longevity?
- Good evidence for positive association with longevity
- Mechanism unclear.
- role of cognitive reserve –> resilience to effects of neural disease or injury
Waxman et al. (2013) found that Very/Extremely low birth weight (V/E LBW) were associated with which adult personality
Lower E and O
Higher N, A, C
Higher ‘Cautiousness’
What were the potential mechanisms behind Waxman et al. (2013) findings? (LBW babies)
- Extra-uterine brain development
- Subsequent illness
- Higher parental monitoring and behavioural restrictions
In a meta analysis, Jokela et al. (2014) examined the impact of chronic disease(s) on Big 5 traits
What was found?
- ‘Dose-dependent’ decreases in E, ES(N), C & O.
- Disease-specific effects greatest changes for stroke.
- Least change for cancer.
What are some potential mechanisms behind the findings of the meta-analysis by Jokela et al. (2014)?
- Neural function
- Coping with distress and challenges of disease (N).
- Fatigue (E).
- Lowered ability to organise life (C)
What are some practical applications of examining the relationship between personality and physical health?
Hagger-Johnson and Pollard Whiteman (2008): The 5 Ts:
- Targeting campaigns to personality traits.
- Tailoring interventions to personality profiles
- Personality ‘Training’
- ‘Treatment’ of personality…
- (recording) Transformation
