1. Chapter 12: Stress, Adjustment, and Health Differences
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: (1) Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; (2) Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; (3) Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Disease-Prone Personalities
Health Behaviors
Activities and actions that have implications for health
People with certain personalities take greater risks with their health
Smoking is related to rebelliousness, aggressiveness, low self-esteem, and impulsivity
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Links between Personality and Health
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

4. Health Behaviors--Risk Taking
Risk taking and sensation seeking are related to personality
Zuckerman's sensation seeking
Farley’s Type T theory (“Thrill”)
Psychobiological need for stimulation
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

5. The Sick Role
Certain people respond to stressful life events by entering the sick role
e.g., see a doctor, don’t go to work/school, act moody, stay in bed, take medication
Behaviorist explanations
Rewards of the sick role
Cognitive explanations
Interpretations of bodily sensations
Neuroticism and negative mood increase illness reporting
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

6. Disease-Caused Personality Changes
Somatopsychic effect
from soma (body) to psyche
Disease or genetic predispositions to illness can affect personality
oxygen deprivation
Down syndrome
Angelman syndrome
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Personality Disorders
Personality disorders include ongoing patterns of behavior that impair the person's functioning and well-being
“Borderline personality disorder”
serious problems of impulsive, self-destructive behavior, fragile self-identity, and stormy relationships
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

8. Diathesis-Stress
Diathesis—the predisposition of the body to a disease or disorder
However, the disease or disorder does not materialize unless it is also elicited from the environment (stress)
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Diathesis-Stress
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Sudden Cardiac Death Bernard Lown’s model:
Electrical instability (Diathesis)
A pervasive negative emotional state (Diathesis)
A triggering event (Stress)
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

11. Personality and Coronary-Proneness
Type A Behavior Pattern
A tense, competitive style that is especially likely to be associated with coronary heart disease
Hostility and “struggle” are harmful to health
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

12. The Human Termites
Longitudinal study of 856 males and 672 females that Lewis Terman started in 1921
Followed throughout their lives, from to the present
Provides insight into which aspects of personality are related to longevity
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

13. The Human Termites: Conscientiousness
Children who were conscientious lived significantly longer than their unconscientious peers
30% less likely to die in any given year
Less likely to suffer an early death from injury
Less likely to engage in unhealthy habits
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

14. The Human Termites: Sociability
Many theories emphasize the importance of psychosocial factors and health
The Terman study found NO link between sociability and longevity
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

15. The Human Termites: Cheerfulness
Children who were more cheerful died sooner
These children grew up to be more likely to smoke, drink, and take risks
Cheerfulness might be good for handling stress, but harmful if it leads to careless or carefree behavior
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

16. The Human Termites: Stressed Termites
Parental divorce
Children whose parents divorced before they were 21 were more likely to:
Die sooner
Have their own marriages end in divorce
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

17. Effects of Parental Divorce on Longevity in the Terman Study
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

18. The Human Termites: Mental Health
Males who experienced mental health problems or difficulties in adjustment were at an increased risk for early mortality
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

19. Blaming the Victim
It is unfair to place too much responsibility on individuals for their illnesses
We tend to do this because:
It is reassuring to assume we are different from those who are ill
We want to believe in a predictable world
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

20. The Self-Healing Personality
Control
Do not feel powerless in the face of external challenges
Commitment
Feel committed to something important and meaningful
Challenge
Respond to life with excitement and energy
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

21. Two Type of Self-Healing Personalities
1) The active healthy personality
Functions best in a somewhat stressful environment
Outgoing and spontaneous
2) The relaxed healthy personality
Functions best in a low-stress environment
Calm and philosophical
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

22. Humanistic and Existential Aspects of Self-Healing
Growth Orientation
Characteristics associated with self-actualization are related to the self-healing personality
Broaden-and-build model
Positive emotions broaden possible actions
Allows building greater social resources
Identity and Purpose
Life philosophies often change after a serious illness or traumatic experience
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

23. Humanistic and Existential Aspects of Self-Healing
Sense of Coherence
Part of Antonovsky’s salutogenesis (how people stay healthy)
Belief that the world is understandable and meaningful is central to health
Associated with longer life
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

24. Health and the Eight Aspects of Personality
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

25. Health and the Eight Aspects of Personality
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

26. Health and the Eight Aspects of Personality
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

27. Health and the Eight Aspects of Personality
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.