Personality, Well-Being, and Health*

In the paper

“we have found (in our own research) that it is empirically and heuristically useful to distinguish and use at least five core health outcomes in addition to longevity”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman et al. 2010
• Not checked yetcites Friedman & Martin 2011

In the paper

“depression-related characteristics are likely often reflective of an alreadydeteriorating trajectory”

In the paper

“Such correlations have little to say about achieving well-being.”

In the paper

“studies of patient populations often suffer from personality selection artifacts (biases) because neurotic individuals are more likely to report symptoms (such as chest pain) and to seek medical care than nonneurotics, even when there is little or no discernable organic disease”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Watson & Pennebaker 1989

In the paper

“Study of personality-an individual's relatively stable predispositions and patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting-and its relationships to well-being and health continues to be plagued by an overreliance on self-report measures.”

In the paper

“many of the questions (or items) used to assess personality are the same questions used to assess health and well-being”

In the paper

“It is also unproven that challenging work in a demanding environment usually brings long-term health risks”

In the paper

“a substantial body of recent research reveals that conscientiousness plays a very significant role in health, with implications across the lifespan”

In the paper

“The commonly used multipurpose Short-Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36), or the closely related RAND 36-Item Health Survey (RAND-36), can be very useful for assessing overall disease burden.”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Ware 2004

In the paper

“a host of characteristics and behaviors associated with the broad personality dimension of conscientiousness is predictive of health and longevity, from childhood through old age”

In the paper

“It is unproven that happiness is a direct cause of good health”

In the paper

“individual strivings for accomplishment and persistent dedication to one's career or community often are associated with sizeable health benefits”

In the paper

“people who report having a joyful, cheerful, relaxed, and agreeable personality also report life satisfaction, emotional thriving, and well-being”

In the paper

“limited-time measurements of outcomes such as cortisol level, vagal tone, and immune markers do not necessarily provide indicators of future long-term health and longevity”

In the paper

“Longevity is, for most purposes, the single best measure of health.First, it is highly reliable and valid.”

In the paper

“a number of clever positive psychology interventions have been developed that increase happiness and the sense of well-being, even in depressed populations”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Lyubomirsky & Layous 2013
• Not checked yetcites Sin & Lyubomirsky 2009

In the paper

“the basic five-factor personality dimensions (particularly conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion, but also often agreeableness and openness) do predict multiple diseases”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman 2007
• Not checked yetcites Goodwin & Friedman 2006

In the paper

“General health is well captured by longevity because the people who live the longest usually are not those who have been struggling with diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other chronic disorders.”

In the paper

“selfrated health predicts mortality risk”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Idler & Benyamini 1997

In the paper

“much research on personality and health is limited and even distorted by the still-common focus on single-disease conditions, with insufficient attention to overall outcomes, especially overall mortality risk”

In the paper

“Homocysteine (an amino acid) is a good predictor of heart disease”

In the paper

“employing the full SF-36-without sufficient attention to its components-as an outcome measure of health in studies of personality and health again confounds the predictor with the outcome because individuals who report a neurotic, distressed personality also report pain, feeling sick, and a poor sense of well-being”

In the paper

“the SF-36 contains multiple dimensions, including behavioral dysfunction, objective reports, subjective rating, and distress and well-being”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Ware 2004

In the paper

“Many examples exist of interventions that affect a biomarker of disease risk (sometimes termed a surrogate endpoint) but that do not improve quality of life or mortality risk because the causal links are not as expected.”

In the paper

“it is misleading to speak of personality traits or coping styles that predict cancer risk or heart disease risk (e.g., type A personality) if such factors equally predict (are equally relevant to) other diseases”

In the paper

“Biomarkers (particularly aggregations of biomarkers as an indication of chronic physiological dysfunction) become very important when they are studied as mediators of relations in fully specified models, such as if the progression of cancer can be shown to have slowed as a function of a psychosocial intervention that boosts the immune system.”

In the paper

“lipid levels (especially cholesterol) are very good predictors of cardiovascular-relevant mortality risk”

In the paper

“deeper analyses reveal that a simple causal model is incomplete”

In the paper

“Considerable cross-sectional evidence links sense of purpose to various subjective well-being measures, including life satisfaction, self-esteem, ego resilience, and positive perceptions of the world”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Steger 2012a

In the paper

“a meaningful life is not necessarily a happy one”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Baumeister et al. 2013
• Not checked yetcites King 2001
• Not checked yetcites Ryff & Singer 2009

In the paper

“Optimism-characterized by a tendency toward positive expectations for the future and confidence in one's ability to cope with challenges-has been consistently linked to better health”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Boehm & Kubzansky 2012
• Not checked yetcites Carver & Connor-Smith 2010

In the paper

“although there are many ways to increase one's sense of well-being, only some of them will increase health”

In the paper

“When full models are spelled out, there is no good evidence for the healing power of positive thought (as a causal relationship).”

In the paper

“optimistic individuals set goals and persist longer despite challenges and setbacks”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Carver et al. 2010
• Not checked yetcites Lench 2011

In the paper

“in the Terman Life Cycle Study, neuroticism (measured decades earlier) was protective against mortality risk for bereaved men”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Taga et al. 2009

In the paper

“there is considerable evidence that persistent, planful striving for meaningful accomplishment is indeed a key pathway to health and longevity”

In the paper

“over a five-year period, purpose in life was associated with reduced mortality risk”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Boyle et al. 2009
• Not checked yetcites Ryff et al. 2004

In the paper

“Subsequent research has confirmed this discovery”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Grippo & Johnson 2002
• Not checked yetcites Miller et al. 1996
• Not checked yetcites Rugulies 2002

In the paper

“Neuroticism is highly correlated with negative feelings”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites DeNeve & Cooper 1998

In the paper

“neuroticism inconsistently predicts mortality risk, with some studies finding higher risk (Abas et al. 2002, Denollet et al. 1996, Schulz et al. 1996, Wilson et al. 2004) and many other studies finding null (Almada et al. 1991, Huppert & Whittington 1995, Iwasa et al. 2008, Mosing et al. 2012) or protective effects (Korten et al. 1999, Taga et al. 2009, Weiss & Costa 2005)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Abas et al. 2002
• Not checked yetcites Almada et al. 1991
• Not checked yetcites Korten et al. 1999

In the paper

“The precise causal links are very important because if the associations are not a function of mood induction, then interventions to improve positive mood or subjective well-being may be useless.”

In the paper

“but if a psychosocial treatment helps the person eat better, get out of bed, attend medical appointments, and connect with other people, it may indeed improve health.”

In the paper

“The depression-mortality relationship is confounded by personality, social environments, unhealthy behaviors, and genetic predispositions.”

In the paper

“Just as the typical (well-being → health) model is incomplete, the simple (depression → disease) model likely is wrong or at least incomplete.”

In the paper

“Depressed patients with heart disease do indeed often have high levels of biomarkers associated with atherosclerosis”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Lichtman et al. 2008

In the paper

“It is also the case that these same symptoms can result from infections and other sources of immune system disruptions with increases of proinflammatory cytokines-as happens when an individual contracts the flu and suffers irritability, disordered sleep, anhedonia, and lethargy (Kemeny 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kemeny 2011

In the paper

“An important randomized study found that treating depression in recent heart attack patients did not reduce the risk of death or second heart attack”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Berkman et al. 2003

In the paper

“A conclusion that depression is a direct cause of disease is unjustified.”

In the paper

“It is usually through chronic processes, over time, that negative psychoemotional and behavioral reaction patterns play a role in disrupting metabolism, immune function, and physiological rhythms (including sleep), thereby increasing susceptibility to illness and general breakdown (Kemeny 2011, McEwen 2006).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kemeny 2011
• Not checked yetcites McEwen 2006 source

In the paper

“Certainly, a workplace can be excessively challenging, with unreasonably heavy physical work, chemical exposure, violence, or psychological overload (World Health Organ. 1994).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites World Health Organ. 1994

In the paper

“But health psychologists have long recognized that challenge is not necessarily harmful (McEwen 2000).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites McEwen 2000

In the paper

“Negative cycles often occur, in which the sick or injured worker loses his or her job, forfeits income for self-care, and faces further deteriorating health”

In the paper

“In a longitudinal analysis of elderly participants in the Terman Life Cycle Study, the continually motivated and productive men and women (who were still working for pay, pursuing new educational opportunities, or seeking new achievements) went on to live much longer than their more laid-back comrades”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman et al. 2010

In the paper

“Challenge and a heavy workload can be healthy or unhealthy, depending on the person, the context, and the person-situation interaction.”

In the paper

“with the US Panel study finding that poor health predicted subsequently being fired or leaving a job voluntarily.”

In the paper

“and this productive orientation mattered much more to longevity than did their sense of happiness and well-being (Friedman et al. 2010).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman et al. 2010

In the paper

“To the extent that depression is a result of the disruption of homeostasis rather than the cause of the disruption, many interventions to treat depression in an attempt to improve later health will be futile.”

In the paper

“Increasing physical activity-changing someone from an inactive to an active person-is a likely candidate in this realm (Carek et al. 2011, Pedersen & Saltin 2006, Str öhle 2009).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Carek et al. 2011
• Not checked yetcites Pedersen & Saltin 2006
• Not checked yetcites Ströhle 2009

In the paper

“On the other hand, seeking emotional happiness per se may impede well-being by setting oneself up for disappointment or narcissism (Mauss et al. 2011, Twenge 2006).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Mauss et al. 2011
• Not checked yetcites Twenge 2006

In the paper

“Much research shows an association between early retirement and increased mortality risk, even after adjusting for various selection artifacts (Bamia et al. 2008, Carlsson et al. 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bamia et al. 2008
• Not checked yetcites Carlsson et al. 2012

In the paper

“It has long been recognized that challenge is a key precursor of well-being.”

In the paper

“Many studies of”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Maddi 2002

In the paper

“For example, flow-very high levels of psychological engagement-emerges when challenge and skill meet (Csikszentmihalyi 1997).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Csikszentmihalyi 1997

In the paper

“Individuals who are involved and maintain a sense of personal control sustain a better quality of life (Bambrick & Bonder 2005, Brown et al. 2009, Pruchno et al. 2010, Schaie & Willis 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bambrick & Bonder 2005
• Not checked yetcites Brown et al. 2009
• Not checked yetcites Pruchno et al. 2010

In the paper

“Personality predicts risk exposure to key life stressors such as marriage and divorce, career success and failure, and crime and safety (Bolger & Zuckerman 1995, Caspi et al. 2005, Magnus et al. 1993, Shanahan et al. 2013, Vollrath 2001).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bolger & Zuckerman 1995
• Not checked yetcites Caspi et al. 2005
• Not checked yetcites Magnus et al. 1993

In the paper

“Conscientiousness predicts reduced disease development (Chapman et al. 2007, Goodwin & Friedman 2006)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Chapman et al. 2007
• Not checked yetcites Goodwin & Friedman 2006

In the paper

“and various sorts of social competence and productivity (Bogg & Roberts 2013).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Bogg & Roberts 2013

In the paper

“A metaanalysis (of 20 independent samples of approximately 9,000 participants) clearly links higher levels of conscientiousness to the key outcome of lower mortality risk (Kern & Friedman 2008).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kern & Friedman 2008

In the paper

“Instead, a remarkable body of new research suggests that certain aspects of personality do indeed play a significant, and likely causal, role in patterns of living that lead to thriving, health, and longevity.”

In the paper

“Finally, low conscientiousness also predicts Alzheimer's disease and related cognitive problems (for a prospective study, see Wilson et al. 2007).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Wilson et al. 2007

In the paper

“This finding has been repeatedly confirmed in more recent studies as well (Chapman et al. 2010, Fry & Debats 2009, Hill et al. 2011, Iwasa et al. 2008, Taylor et al. 2009, Terracciano et al. 2008).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Chapman et al. 2010
• Not checked yetcites Fry & Debats 2009
• Not checked yetcites Hill et al. 2011

In the paper

“For example, in a 17-year follow-up in the Whitehall II cohort study (N = 6,800), low conscientiousness in midlife was an important risk factor for all-cause mortality, an association that was partly but not fully accounted for by health behaviors and certain other disease risks (Hagger-Johnson et al. 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hagger-Johnson et al. 2012

In the paper

“Extensive research following up the initial startling finding of two decades ago (Friedman et al. 1993) that childhood conscientiousness is a strong predictor of longevity”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman et al. 1993

In the paper

“better coping (Connor-Smith & Flachsbart 2007)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Connor-Smith & Flachsbart 2007

In the paper

“in adolescence, conscientious individuals are less likely to try smoking, alcohol, and illegal drugs”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hampson 2012

In the paper

“detrimental effects of anxiety and emotionality are reduced in individuals who are also conscientious (Chapman et al. 2010, Parkes 1984, Terracciano & Costa 2004, Turiano et al. 2013, Vollrath & Torgersen 2002).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Chapman et al. 2010
• Not checked yetcites Parkes 1984
• Not checked yetcites Terracciano & Costa 2004

In the paper

“For example, at a young age, conscientious children face fewer self-control and school problems; in adolescence, conscientious individuals are less likely to try smoking, alcohol, and illegal drugs; and in adulthood, conscientious people are more likely to connect with other conscientious people-personally, socially, and at work-and to place themselves in healthier social and physical environments”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hampson 2012

In the paper

“And although being low on conscientiousness and high on neuroticism appears to be a particularly dangerous combination (with individuals who are impulsive, disorganized, anxious, and emotional at very high risk)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Chapman et al. 2010
• Not checked yetcites Parkes 1984
• Not checked yetcites Terracciano & Costa 2004

In the paper

“Fifth, conscientiousness may be encouraged by certain genetic patterns-and gene-byenvironment interactions-that are also related to subsequent health.”

In the paper

“For example, conscientiousness can attenuate the health risk of career failures (Kern et al. 2009).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kern et al. 2009

In the paper

“For example, rank in high school class (N = 10,317 high school graduates), which depends heavily not only on intelligence but also on conscientiousness, was found to be a much better predictor of longevity than was IQ (Hauser & Palloni 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hauser & Palloni 2011

In the paper

“Fourth, conscientiousness often interacts with unhealthy stressors and with other unhealthy personality traits, moderating their detrimental effects.”

In the paper

“for example, one study of middle-aged adults found conscientiousness predicted better recovery from negative emotional challenges ( Javaras et al. 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Javaras et al. 2012

In the paper

“Prudent, persistent, planful individuals make a myriad of decisions each day that minimize risk.”

In the paper

“One study of large numbers of monozygotic twins found minimal predictive ability for individual health (Roberts et al. 2012)”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Roberts et al. 2012

In the paper

“On the other hand, a high degree of self-control and grit, coupled with prudent planning and thinking ahead is especially healthy (Duckworth 2011, Moffitt et al. 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Duckworth 2011
• Not checked yetcites Moffitt et al. 2011

In the paper

“For example, Swedish twin studies suggest that core health-relevant social relations such as stable, happy marriages can be partly predicted by genetic variation (Walum et al. 2008; see also Mosing et al. 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Walum et al. 2008
• Not checked yetcites Mosing et al. 2012

In the paper

“Conscientiousness likely also operates to promote health through reduction of very small risks.”

In the paper

“A number of studies suggest that high neuroticism combined with low conscientiousness is particularly risky for poor health outcomes (Chapman et al. 2007(Chapman et al. , 2010;;Terracciano & Costa 2004;Vollrath & Torgersen 2002).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Chapman et al. 2007
• Not checked yetcites Chapman et al. 2010
• Not checked yetcites Terracciano & Costa 2004

In the paper

“In particular, early life experiences and biological predispositions (including genes, in utero hormones, nutrition, toxins, and postpartum and early infant attachment and environmental challenge) can influence both personality and later health (McEwen 1993(McEwen , 2006;;Puig et al. 2013;Taylor et al. 1997).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites McEwen 1993
• Not checked yetcites McEwen 2006 source
• Not checked yetcites Puig et al. 2013

In the paper

“Whether it is carrying a raincoat, packing an extra set of medications, double locking their doors, minimizing germ exposure (through hand-washing or other sanitary practices), or staying off the golf course when thunderstorms are predicted, conscientious individuals slightly lower their risks of injury and disease each day.”

In the paper

“In summary, a key contribution of modern personality research to understanding health and well-being is the focus on healthy patterns, clusters of predictors, and what we like to call pathways to health and longevity.”

In the paper

“For example, in a study of medication after a myocardial infarction, being conscientious enough to fully cooperate with treatment (even if with a placebo) emerged as a more important predictor of mortality risk than the medication (Horwitz et al. 1990).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Horwitz et al. 1990

In the paper

“Further, new analytic techniques allow integration of extant studies to test lifespan models (Kern et al. 2013, Picinnin & Hofer 2008).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Kern et al. 2013
• Not checked yetcites Picinnin & Hofer 2008

In the paper

“But attention to personality can broaden and sharpen research approaches because it is stable and slow changing, and it is tied to a full range of biopsychosocial influences.”

In the paper

“When the genetic code and early-life stress are viewed as an initial step in a long-term trajectory-in other words, in terms of personality and development-then the model becomes much more powerful as health risks cumulate.”

In the paper

“Personality is also highly relevant to who completes the research study.”

In the paper

“Multiple causal links to health exist, and models of the hypothesized full long-term pathways should be spelled out in all research in this field, even when the full model is not being investigated in a particular study (for a discussion of causal inference in personality psychology, see Lee 2012).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Lee 2012

In the paper

“First, individuals with good ties to social networks and who are well integrated into their communities tend to be happier and healthier (Hawkley & Cacioppo 2010, Taylor 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Hawkley & Cacioppo 2010
• Not checked yetcites Taylor 2011

In the paper

“One of the most striking and important surprise conclusions of the eightdecade”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman & Martin 2011

In the paper

“Second, people who are physically activedoing things-tend to have better mental and physical health.”

In the paper

“Third, self-controlled, conscientious individuals who live and work with purpose and are involved with helping others appear to thrive across the long term (Friedman & Martin 2011).”

What the sources say

• Not checked yetcites Friedman & Martin 2011

In the paper

“This third factor may be the most important because it plays a role in the first two as well.”