Personality & Health
Personality and perceived Stress:
An individual must perceive a stressor
in order for it to have an impact on them, and people's personalities
determine how they will perceive something. Some people perceive
certain events as more stressful as others. Also, the very same
situation can be experienced differently depending on their personality.
A shy person who is at a busy loud party will experience more
stress in the situation than an outgoing person that thrives on
that sort of experience.
Personality Types and Behaviour Patterns:
There are personality variables
that are linked to certain health outcomes. Stress seems
to be a factor in these personality types and specifically how
a person responds to stress.
1) Type-A Behaviour Pattern: This type of behaviour
pattern occurs in individuals when they demonstrate: a)
a competitive orientation towards achievement, b)
a sense of urgency about time, and c) a strong
tendency to feel anger and hostility. They tend to strive very
hard and competitively towards certain goals, often without feeling
much enjoyment in the process at all.
2) Type-B Behaviour Pattern: This individual
demonstrates low levels of competitiveness and urgency about time.
They are more easygoing and relaxed and enjoy life.
Type A and Type B personalities
react differently to stress. Type-A's respond more quickly and
forcefully and tend to view sources of stress as threats to their
personal self-control. They act in ways that increase the likelihood
that they will encounter stress. They create their own stress,
by seeking out demanding, competitive situations, and by creating
artificial deadlines for themselves. A number of studies have
found a link between Type-A behaviour and coronary heart disease.
The three specific components of Type-A behaviour that contribute
to heart disease include anger and hostility. Anger and hostility
directed against the self may be especially damaging to health.
Also, hostility characterized by suspiciousness, resentment, frequent
anger and antagonism towards others seems to be bad for health.
Some reasons have been proposed
as top why Type-A personalities experience more heart disease.
As previously mentioned, these types of individuals experience
more stress. One theory proposes that when people perceive stress,
their bodies try to pump greater amounts of blood through narrower
constricted blood vessels. This may wear out the coronary arteries,
lead to lesions and produce heart attack. Another theory suggests
that hormones activated by stress may cause continual change in
blood pressure and undermine resilient blood vessels. A third
theory states that stress could cause lipids to release into the
blood stream, which contributes to atherosclerosis, a disease
that causes fatty deposits to constrict blood vessels.
Healing & Pain
& Interpreting Symptoms