Personality and
health
6
CHAPTER PLAN
In this chapter we examine the ways in which personality dimensions or traits can
determine health outcomes. These effects of personality on health include direct effects
through physiological mechanisms and indirect effects through health behaviours.
Personality traits refer to stable individual differences in thinking, feeling and
behaving across a range of different situations. Research in the health domain has found
that particular dimensions of personality are associated with poor health and reduced
longevity, while others are linked to good health and increased length of life. The
magnitude of these effects can be similar to those of known biological risk factors such
as cholesterol (Caspi, Roberts and Shiner, 2005). The personality dimensions associated
with poor health outcomes include neuroticism (or negative affect), type A personality
and hostility. The dimensions associated with good health outcomes include optimism,
extraversion and conscientiousness. In this chapter we consider the evidence linking
these personality variables to health outcomes and some of the mechanisms by which
personality affects health. For example, personality traits might lead to greater exposure
to stressful events, to a reduction in the effectiveness of coping strategies, or a change
in coping resources such as social support. These explanations of the personality–health
link build on the discussion of the impact of personality on coping in Chapter 5. Other
personality traits such as hostility may affect health through changing the intensity and
duration of physiological reactions to stress, linking personality to the biopsychosocial
pathways considered in Chapter 2.
In this chapter we will consider (1) optimism and health; (2) type A behaviour and
coronary heart disease; (3) hostility and coronary heart disease; (4) neuroticism and
health; (5) extraversion and health; and (6) conscientiousness and health.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter reviews evidence suggesting that stable individual differences in the
way people think, feel and behave (i.e. personality traits) are predictive of various
health outcomes. We explore how these stable individual differences can predispose
individuals to respond to life challenges in a manner, which, over time, damages or