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