Personality as a Predictor of Health

This article explores the link between personality traits and health outcomes. It discusses the different personality theories and dimensions, as well as the various personality assessments available. The article also examines the predictive abilities of conscientiousness and neuroticism in terms of health outcomes and health behavior patterns. Self-report personality tests are found to be the most effective way to find out behavioral measures, although there are some limitations.

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PERSONALITY AS A PREDICTOR OF HEALTH
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The term personality is used to define and understand the characteristics of an individual and the
differences in various traits from other individuals. Every person has their own patterns of
feelings, behaviors and thoughts and personality describes the individual differences in all of
these aspects. Two major categories that come into light when studying personality are
individual trait differences and traits that make up a person as a whole (Kandler, 2017). The
method that is used for measuring the various personality constructs of a human being is called a
personality test. Most of the personality testing tools are introspective, which means, they are
self-report questionnaires of differing rating scales. Raymond Cattell however tried to construct
personality tests that were objective and based on performance (Cattell & Warburton, 1967).
However, the problem with such tests is that they are very susceptible to distorted response due
to biased perception of others and oneself. Health, according to the definition by WHO is not
just absence or disease or disorders but a state of complete mental, social and physical well
being. There exists limited literature about self report personality tests as predictors of health
however there are studies showing that personality traits maybe important predictors of health
outcomes (Turiano et al., 2011). Neuroticism as defined by Lahey (2009) can be referred to as
the tendency to have stable responses to negative emotions like frustration, loss or threat.
Individuals who score high on neuroticism have intense emotional responses where as individual
with lower neuroticism scores (higher stability scores) are capable of being calm even at the
most stressful situations.
There are a number of different personality theories linking to the different aspects
related to the different aspects related to the relations of the mind to and the personality to the
health of the person. First type of relationship that can be deduced is the cause effect relationship
model which will overall affect the health of a person. The second type of the model will take

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into account the causal link between the personality of the person and the health factors affected
by it as in the case of shared genetic trail leading to similar personality traits and illnesses. The
different personality dimensions can help in understanding the effect of the personality trait on
the health. The three-personality dimensions mentioned in this theory are Extraversion,
neuroticism and Psychoticism. Another model of personality, which is widely used for
personality testing, is the five-factor model and it describes the five personality traits of
Openness, conscientiousness extraversion, agreeableness and Neuroticism.
Personality assessments of different kinds exist. In case of a self-report inventory, there
are a number of items, which the testee has to respond introspectively by assessing their own self
on a Likert-type rating scale. There has been a growing research body over the past few decades
who have been trying to link, personality traits with the various health related behaviors,
mechanisms and outcomes. A number of models have also been proposed in explaining the ways
in which personality of an individual can affect their health due to their coping mechanisms,
risky health behaviors, shared genetic risks, physiological responses and resilient factors (Smith
& Baucom, 2017).
Although a number of studies have shown that personality has a role to play in maintenance and
promotion of health, there have not been many, which links particular traits to the outcomes of
health (Friedman & Kern, 2014). A study by Atherton, Robins, Rentfrow & Lamb, (2014) used a
sample of 460 individuals for replicating and extending the between three outcomes related to
health and the Big five personality traits. They found that individuals with low
conscientiousness, high neuroticism reported poorer health and individuals with high
extraversion had more tendencies towards substance abuse. There were other studies too like the
one conducted by Weston & Jackson, (2016), where 7051 participants were investigated to find

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if neuroticism and conscientiousness were associated with the risky health behavior of smoking.
It was found that individuals with high levels of neuroticism paired with high conscientiousness
predicted less smoking behaviors. However, this study also suggested that there is a major
difference between personality as a predictor for health problem responses and personality as a
predictor for health problem onset. Turiano et al., (2015) conducted a study with a huge sample
of 3990 to investigate if the personality changes and personality trait level longitudinally (10
years), can predict the three different outcomes of health, which are Self-rated physical health,
limited working due to physical health causes and self- reported blood pressure. According to the
results conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism were the traits, which
predicted self-rated health outcomes. It was found that self-reported Blood Pressure was
predicted by neuroticism and conscientiousness. Limited workdays were predicted by all the
traits except agreeableness and self-rated physical health was predicted by conscientiousness.
There have been a number of studies, which have found that conscientiousness predicted health
outcomes and there has been little or no evidence suggesting the link between openness and
health. Another study by Hall, Fong & Epp, (2014) investigated if the big five personality traits,
IQ and Executive Functioning had predictive validity for health related behavior index. The
study was conducted on a community sample, which was stratified by age. The results suggested
that in age correcting analysis of regression, significant predictors of health behavior included
conscientiousness, neuroticism and executive functions. In addition, the moderational analysis
that was conducted, suggested that there was a uniform effect of personality trait on health
behavior across all ages and the executive function predicted health behavior more with the
increase in age. It was found that health behavior patterns could be predicted by both neuroticism
and conscientiousness however, their association was weaker in comparison to that of the

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predictive validity of Executive Functioning and it is the executive function which explained
some of the effects of the two personality traits (Hall, Fong & Epp, 2014).
Therefore, a number of studies have exhibited the predictive abilities of
conscientiousness and neuroticism in terms of health outcomes or health behavior patterns. It is
therefore essential to understand what these two personality traits are. Conscientiousness as
defined by Bogg & Roberts, (2012) is the tendency of an individual to follow the norms that are
socially prescribed. It is the capability to control impulses in order to be at par with the rules of
the social surroundings. It is a goal setting, and gratification-delaying behavior in which
individual tends to play by the rules to get to their aims. Some important facets of
conscientiousness include self-discipline, organizational capabilities and willpower.
Most of the personality tools used to assess the personality traits of individuals are self-
reports. This method is common because they are useful when a large number of data is to be
collected. In addition, self-reports help in assessing such behavioral constructs, which would
otherwise have been very difficult to obtain. All though these self-reports undergo a lot of testing
for reliability and validity, there still are a number of problems which are difficult to control.
Firstly, the introspective ability of the participants is not wholly understood; secondly,
individuals might lie in order to conform to the general rule, which might prevent from getting
an actual personality score. Thirdly, the dishonesty level can vary individual wise. Fourthly, it
may also be the case that the individual fails to understand what the item demands. However,
self-reports is most effective way to find out behavioral measures and although there are some
limitations, self-report personality tests can predict future health.

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References
Atherton, O. E., Robins, R. W., Rentfrow, P. J., & Lamb, M. E. (2014). Personality correlates of
risky health outcomes: Findings from a large Internet study. Journal of research in
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Bogg, T., & Roberts, B. W. (2012). The case for conscientiousness: Evidence and implications
for a personality trait marker of health and longevity. Annals of Behavioral
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Cattell, R. B., & Warburton, F. W. (1967). Objective personality and motivation tests: A
theoretical introduction and practical compendium.
Friedman, H. S., & Kern, M. L. (2014). Personality, well-being, and health. Annual review of
psychology, 65.
Hall, P. A., Fong, G. T., & Epp, L. J. (2014). Cognitive and personality factors in the prediction
of health behaviors: an examination of total, direct and indirect effects. Journal of
behavioral medicine, 37(6), 1057-1068.
Kandler, C. (2017). Personality Traits and States: Vague Dimensional Differentiation or Genuine
Integration.
Lahey, B. B. (2009). Public health significance of neuroticism. American Psychologist, 64(4),
241.
Smith, T. W., & Baucom, B. R. (2017). Intimate relationships, individual adjustment, and
coronary heart disease: Implications of overlapping associations in psychosocial
risk. American Psychologist, 72(6), 578.

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Turiano, N. A., Pitzer, L., Armour, C., Karlamangla, A., Ryff, C. D., & Mroczek, D. K. (2011).
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