Personality traits and health have long had an interesting and complex
relationship. Physicians and researchers
have looked at how one influences the other.
The most common study is how personalities affect health. It could be argued that health status can
change personality as well, but there is little to no research done on this
yet. Shifren and Bauserman make the
connection between personality traits leading to lifestyle choices (1996). Individuals who have high scores in expressive
and instrumental traits are more likely to have better health behaviors. These include the use of more safety
precautions and are less likely to smoke tobacco products. It has also been shown that people who do not
ask for medical assistance during ailments or injury are more likely to be
susceptible to preventable illness and death.
In a more recent article, Bogg and Roberts evaluated personality traits
as a psychological construct (2013).
Much of their research showed conscientiousness as an influential
personality trait on health. Conscientiousness
is the personality trait related to being vigilant or careful. People ranked with more conscientiousness
personalities lived longer and had less disease risk. These include indicators of pathology for
diabetes, ulcers, strokes, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, and skin
problems. The most recent studies have
been focusing on conscientiousness personalities and the handling of stress
(Bogg & Roberts, 2013). As we have
discussed in previous conversations, stress can cause a tremendous number of
health problems. More conscientiousness
leads to better coping and adaptive strategies for stress. Because this is a fairly recent line of
research, the correlation between health-related outcomes and conscientiousness
for stress is lacking. This being said,
the initial findings warrant further attention.
The future of health and personality traits, at least according to Bogg
and Roberts, is to co-develop health behaviors and conscientiousness. The researchers believe that this will reduce
the amount of morbidity and eventually mortality experienced by populations.
- Bogg, T., & Roberts, B. W. (2013). The case for conscientiousness: Evidence and implications for a personality trait marker of health and longevity. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45(3), 278-88. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1007/s12160-012-9454-6
- Shifren, K., & Bauserman, R. L. (1996). The relationship between instrumental and expressive traits, health behaviors, and perceived physical health. Sex Roles, 34(11-12), 841-864. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/225375107?accountid=13360
Hi Erin,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I think investigating personality traits and their relationship to health and lifestyle choices is really interesting. There is research in the field of consumer behavior and different types of personality traits on experiential consumption. For example, Mehmetoglu (2012) found that those conscientious people that you mentioned preferred nature activities and unconventional activities versus things like social leisure (e.g. dining out or clubbing) which transfers to the healthy lifestyle choices you discussed. I think the cross merits further investigation as lifestyle choices include purchasing behaviors of all types not only experiential learning. It is through research such as this that public health professionals can further tailor intervention programs and even communication initiatives in order to identify those types of personalities are most at risk and at the same time, be effective!
Reference
Mehmetoglu, M. (2012). Personality effects on experiential consumption. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(1), 94-99.
Hi Erin, interesting topic and consideration. I agree with you and Amy that this association needs to be investigated further. I have to play a little bit of the devil’s advocate and question the exact association… I would predict there is a U-shaped association between conscientiousness and health, those that aren’t conscientious at all may be associated with poorer health, where those that are fairly/moderately conscientious have good health, and those that are too conscientious could have poor health. I mention this last consideration because of the research on social networks and increased wellness. If those that are more conscientious are less social, could that be a confounder on the relationship? Or rather, is it that these individuals are social in other way. Again, I would be curious to follow this research.
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