This document discusses the relationship between personality and health. It describes different personality types (Type A, B, C) and their associations with stress and disease risk. Type A behavior, characterized by competitiveness and hostility, is linked to cardiovascular disease, especially the trait of hostility. The Type C personality is linked to suppression of emotions and greater cancer risk. Coping strategies like optimism and disclosure can benefit health by reducing stress. Personality influences how people appraise and cope with stressors, trauma, and health threats.

1. Chapter 18
Stress, Coping, Adjustment, and Health
Personality PsychologyPersonality Psychology

2. Health PsychologyHealth Psychology
 Does personality type really predispose us to
disease?
 Do people with various illnesses develop
some of the same personality traits?
 How do stress and trauma affect personality?
 How do our personalities influence the ways
in which we handle stress and trauma?

3. Health PsychologyHealth Psychology
 Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP)
 Type B Behavior Pattern (TBBP)
 Type C Behavior Pattern (TCBP)

4. Personality andPersonality and
Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiovascular Disease
Type A Behavior
(Friedman and Rosenman, 1974)
 A syndrome of several traits:
 Achievement motivation and
competitiveness
 Time urgency
 Hostility and aggressiveness

5. Personality andPersonality and
Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiovascular Disease
Type A Behavior
 Early research found a relationship
between Type A and risk for heart attack
 Later research couldn’t replicate—why?
 What part of Type A is most lethal?

6. Personality andPersonality and
Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiovascular Disease
Hostility
Is it the specific trait of Hostility,
rather than the general syndrome of
Type A, that is a better predictor of
heart disease?

7. Personality andPersonality and
Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiovascular Disease
Hostility
 The “toxic-core”
 Most significant feature for risk of heart
disease and mortality
 Explosive reaction to stress
 Some theorists distinguish from “Type
A” and call “Type H”
 More noncompliant with medical advice

8. Personality andPersonality and
Cardiovascular DiseaseCardiovascular Disease
How Are the Arteries Damaged by Hostility?
 Flight or fight increases blood pressure
 More blood going through small arteries
 Arteriosclerosis

9. Personality andPersonality and
DiseaseDisease
Type B
The absence of Type A behaviors; more relaxed
and “laid-back”

10. Personality andPersonality and
DiseaseDisease
Type C
 “Cancer-prone personality”
 Suppression of emotion
 Compliant and conforming
 Arousal  Heightened activity  No outlet
 Remain in state of heightened activation 
Reduction of immune system functioning 
Greater vulnerability to disease

11. Coping Strategies and StylesCoping Strategies and Styles
Disclosure and Telling Secrets
 Keeping things to ourselves can be a
source of stress
 Getting something “off your chest” can
be a relief from stress which can benefit
your health

12. Models for Personality Behavior PatternsModels for Personality Behavior Patterns
Sample of People Measured on
Emotional Expression of Any Type
0
5
10
15
20
Type
C
Type
B
Type
A
Type
H
Personality Behavior Pattern
Emotional
Expression
Hypothetical
Sample

13. Models for Personality Behavior PatternsModels for Personality Behavior Patterns
Sample of People Measured on
Physiological Arousal
0
5
10
15
20
Type
C
Type
B
Type
A
Type
H
Personality Behavior Pattern
Physiological
Arousal
Hypothetical
Sample

14. Models for Personality Behavior PatternsModels for Personality Behavior Patterns
Sample of People Measured on
Emotional Inhibition
0
5
10
15
20
25
Type B . Type C
Personality Behavior Patterns
LevelofPhysiologicalActivity
Hypothetical
Sample
Linear
(Hypothetical
Sample)
Sample of People Measured on
Hostility
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Type A . Type H
Pesonality Behavior PatternsLevelofPhysiologicalActivity
Hypothetical
Sample

15. Models of Personality-IllnessModels of Personality-Illness
 Interactional Model
 Transactional Model
 Health Behavior Model
 Predisposition Model
 Illness Behavior Model

16. Two kinds of appraisal in theTwo kinds of appraisal in the
Transactional ModelTransactional Model
Primary and Secondary Appraisal
 Primary Appraisal: person perceives that the
event is a threat
 Secondary Appraisal: person concludes that
they don’t have resources to cope with the
threatening event

17. Coping Strategies and StylesCoping Strategies and Styles
Attribution Style
 The dispositional way of explaining the
causes of bad events
 External vs. Internal
 Unstable vs. Stable
 Specific vs. Global

18. Coping Strategies and StylesCoping Strategies and Styles
Optimism and Physical Well-Being
 Optimistic appraisal has been shown to
predict:
 Good health
 Immune system functioning
 Faster rehabilitation
 Living longer

19. The Concept of StressThe Concept of Stress
 A subjective feeling that is produced by
uncontrollable and threatening events
 Must have both primary and secondary
appraisal to qualify as “stress”
 Stressors:
 Extreme in some manner
 Produce opposing tendencies
 Are outside of our power to influence

20. The Concept of StressThe Concept of Stress
Daily Hassles
 Minor sources of stress in most peoples’
lives are termed “daily hassles”
 Like major events, people with a lot of
minor stress suffer more than expected
from psychological and physical
symptoms

21. The Concept of StressThe Concept of Stress
Major Life Events
 Point system of determining stress levels
 Most points = most likely to have a
serious illness

22. When is Stress Overwhelming?When is Stress Overwhelming?
The Stress Response
 When the body endures a prolonged
“Flight or Fight” response
 General Adaptation Syndrome
 Alarm
 Resistance
 Exhaustion
 Breakdown in immune functioning,
strength of cardiovascular system

23. Trauma and PersonalityTrauma and Personality
 Definition of trauma
 Those at increased risk for slow post-
trauma recovery:
 Outside factors
 Personality factors

24. Coping with traumaCoping with trauma
 Coping and personality characteristics
 Pennebaker’s research on illness support groups
 Changes in personality due to trauma
 Tedeschi’s research on “post-traumatic growth”
 Coping strategies
 Changing attribution style
 Disclosure: Pennebaker’s research
 Managing emotions