Psychology of Personality Exam 3: chapter 15

high neuroticism, type D, and type A

- anxious, hostile, high in negative emotion, at risk for depression - headaches, stomach problems, heart disease

high openness

- creative, interested in ideas - mixed results; creativity linked to living longer

high conscientiousness

- dutiful, organized, high is self-control - eat healthier food, less likely to smoke or use drugs, live longer

impatient hostility

- element of type a personality leading to heart attack - distrustful, overly time-conscious, and angry attitude - .19 correlation with heart attack - 56% more likely to have heart attacks - may lead to elevated white blood cell counts; an indication of inflammation, when bodily tissues swell in response to a perceived or real threat

high agreeableness

- pleasant and friendly to other people - mixed results; peer-rated linked to longer life for women

pessimistic explanatory style

- sees bad events as stable (likely to keep happening), global (affecting many aspects of life), and internal (caused by the self) - sees good events as transient (won't happen again), specific (only affecting one aspect of life), and external ( caused by something outside the self) - more likely to die from accidents or violence; drawn to hazardous situations; hopeless explanatory style-->dysphoria-->risky behavior-->accidents - type t's dark cousin; risk taking because they felt like they didn't have anything to lose

optimistic explanatory style

- sees bad events as transient (won't happen again), specific (only affecting one aspect of life), and external (caused by something outside the self) - sees good events as stable (will keep happening), global (affecting many aspects of life), and internal (caused by the self)

affiliation motive

- those who focus on relationships have better immune system function; increased levels of progesterone, a hormone associated with feelings of closeness to others

high extraversion and type T

- thrill seeking - smoking, drug use, binge drinking, more likely to die in accidents

The Depression Cure

Book by psychologist Steve Ilardi describing a program that combines mental and physical strategies, including social interaction, exercise, omega 3 fatty acid supplements, sleep, and exposure to sunlight

social inhibition

a reluctance to express emotions that risk others' disapproval; these people find it hard to start conversations and often feel inhibited in social interactions; linked to low extraversion

control

a sense of control actually helps individuals from stress; humans who experience control at work report less depression, burnout, and stress

Type T (thrill-seeking) personality

an extraverted sensation seeker pursuing exciting experiences; overlaps with high impulsivity; want thrill, excitement, enjoy unpredictability, and like change and novelty; like to break the rules partially because the forbidden activity is exciting but mostly because breaking the rules is exciting

"chicken littling"

believing that the sky is falling or catastrophizing

which of the big five traits appears to be most related to living longer?

conscientiousness

explain the influence of the big five and the types (A, D, and T) on physical health

conscientiousness is strongly linked to better physical health and to living longer. neuroticism, type a, and type d are linked to inflammation and heart disease. extraversion and type t are linked to drug and alcohol abuse and having accidents

power motive

desire to control own actions and those of others; distressed when controlled by others; a blocked or thwarted need for power leads to stress, which leads to chronic high blood pressure, which can then lead to immune system problems

social support

fulfilling relationships with friends and family that provide both emotional and practical support; linked to high agreeableness; people with high levels of this tend to be healthier and live longer; benefits come from the network of friends and family that follows from agreeableness but not agreeableness itself

toby's girlfriend eventually breaks up with him because he can't top trying to control everything she does. girls have broken up with toby over this type of behavior before. if this continues, toby is most likely to develop which of the following conditions?

high blood pressure

which big five trait is linked to a host of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity?

high neuroticism

which two characteristics are typical of type D personality?

high neuroticism and high social inhibition

inflammation

increasingly believed to cause a long list of diseases including heart disease, arthritis, and asthma

progesterone

may promote a "tend and befriend" response to stress; seeking social support from others instead of the fight or flight response to stress more common among those high in power motive; found more often among women; healthier for immune system and heart health

immune system and power motive

not being able to achieve your desired personality leads to stress, which can then lead to immune system issues and physical illness

defensive pessimism

not convinced that the worst will continue to happen but try to prepare in case it does

openness to experience

often the odd one out among the big five, it was the only big five trait not related to self-reported health or living longer; however men with this were 12% less likely to die over 18 years than those low in this; linked to trying different approaches to reduce stress or manage healthcare

optimism and immune health

optimistic people have better immune system functioning and recover more quickly from heart attacks and surgery

neuroticism and health issues

people high in this are linked to health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity; women high in anxiety were more than seven times more likely to have a heart attack; the negative emotion associated with this may even accelerate the aging process; these people have shorter chromosomes, indicative of more biological aging; perhaps as a result these people don't live as long

immune system

people who think about how they fall short of their ideal selves have lower levels of natural killer cells that fight off disease

explain the influence of psychological motives and explanatory style on physical health

poor physical health can result when psychological motives are thwarted. people with a pessimistic (vs. optimistic) explanatory style have compromised immune systems and are more likely to have accidents

Type A personality

someone who is hardworking, scheduled and impatient; more likely to have heart attacks correlation .18; 43% more likely to have a heart attack than a type B person

Type B peronsality

someone who is laid-back and less interested in planning

Type D (distressed) personality

the combination of high neuroticism and high social inhibition; these people are four times more likely to have had psychotherapy in the past month; if this type develops heart disease they are two to seven times as likely to have a heart attack, develop cancer, or die from any cause as a person not this type

rumination

the common practice of letting stressful thoughts run through your mind over and over; meditation can reduce this

catastrophizing

thinking that even small negative events are catastrophes