Contrary to unidimensional conceptions of optimism and pessimism, factor analysis of 2 widely used instruments revealed that optimism and pessimism are empirically differentiable, but related, constructs. Moreover, consistent with expectations, optimism and pessimism were differentially linked with fundamental dimensions of mood and personality. Pessimism was principally associated with neuroticism and negative affect. Optimism was primarily associated with extraversion and positive affect. Findings are discussed with reference to current conceptual and measurement models of optimism and pessimism and their relations to broad dimensions of mood and personality.

The fitness and health of military personnel is important for operational readiness and effectiveness. This point is the basis for program's such as the Navy's Health and Physical Readiness Program. The effectiveness of those programs depends on an adequate understanding of the antecedents and consequences of the behaviors the programs attempt to modify. The present study examined personality as an antecedent of differences in health behaviors.A sample of U.S. Navy recruits (n = 103) and a sample of U.S. Marine Corps personnel (n = 76) completed standardized questionnaires to describe their personality and their habitual health behavior patterns. The personality measures included scales for neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, based on a growing consensus among personality researchers that these dimensions comprehensively cover the major personality domains. The health behavior measures included scales for wellness behaviors, accident prevention, substance-use risk taking, and traffic risk taking developed in prior Naval Health Research Center studies. Correlation and regression analyses were performed separately in each sample to estimate the relationships between personality and health behaviors. The results were pooled to produce overall estimates of the magnitude of associations and their statistical significance.The most important personality correlates of health behaviors were conscientiousness and agreeableness. In the multiple regression analyses, conscientiousness was related to engaging in more frequent wellness behaviors and accident control behaviors and less frequent traffic risk taking behaviors. Agreeableness was related to less traffic risk taking and substance use risk taking. In addition, openness to experience was the strongest single predictor of substance use risk taking and was related to higher risk taking. Extraversion was related to more frequent wellness behaviors. In combination, the personality variables accounted for 9% to 25% of the variance in the health behavior variables.Personality variables merit more attention than they have received in health behavior research. Knowledge of the personality composition of the target population for a program such as the Navy's Health and Physical Readiness Program can be used in two ways to enhance the impact of these programs. One way is by identifying general behavioral trends that must be overcome for a program to be effective. A second way is by providing a basis for selecting the -2-most suitable types of intervention programs for the target population. For example, simply providing information about the need for good health behaviors and the appropriate methods for incorporating those behaviors into one's life style may be sufficient when dealing with people who are high on conscientiousness. For people who are low on conscientiousness, programs which rely more on involvement with peers may be appropriate, particularly among those who are agreeable and presumably more responsive to that ...

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The NEO Five Factor Personality Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1989) and representative personality scales drawn from health psychology were administered to 2 samples of male military recruits (Ns = 296 and 502). Factor analysis of health-related personality scales revealed 3 conceptually meaningful domains. Examination of these domains and their constituent scales, with reference to the 5-factor model of personality, permits 3 general conclusions. First, most health-relevant dimensions and scales appear to be complex mixtures of broad personality domains. Second, variation in many health-related personality instruments is explained to a significant degree by the 5-factor model. Third, 2 of the 5 personality domains (i.e., conscientiousness and openness) appear to be substantially neglected in health psychology research.

The fitness and health of military personnel is important for operational readiness and effectiveness. This point is the basis for program's such as the Navy's Health and Physical Readiness Program. The effectiveness of those programs depends on an adequate understanding of the antecedents and consequences of the behaviors the programs attempt to modify. The present study examined personality as an antecedent of differences in health behaviors.A sample of U.S. Navy recruits (n = 103) and a sample of U.S. Marine Corps personnel (n = 76) completed standardized questionnaires to describe their personality and their habitual health behavior patterns. The personality measures included scales for neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, based on a growing consensus among personality researchers that these dimensions comprehensively cover the major personality domains. The health behavior measures included scales for wellness behaviors, accident prevention, substance-use risk taking, and traffic risk taking developed in prior Naval Health Research Center studies. Correlation and regression analyses were performed separately in each sample to estimate the relationships between personality and health behaviors. The results were pooled to produce overall estimates of the magnitude of associations and their statistical significance.The most important personality correlates of health behaviors were conscientiousness and agreeableness. In the multiple regression analyses, conscientiousness was related to engaging in more frequent wellness behaviors and accident control behaviors and less frequent traffic risk taking behaviors. Agreeableness was related to less traffic risk taking and substance use risk taking. In addition, openness to experience was the strongest single predictor of substance use risk taking and was related to higher risk taking. Extraversion was related to more frequent wellness behaviors. In combination, the personality variables accounted for 9% to 25% of the variance in the health behavior variables.Personality variables merit more attention than they have received in health behavior research. Knowledge of the personality composition of the target population for a program such as the Navy's Health and Physical Readiness Program can be used in two ways to enhance the impact of these programs. One way is by identifying general behavioral trends that must be overcome for a program to be effective. A second way is by providing a basis for selecting the -2-most suitable types of intervention programs for the target population. For example, simply providing information about the need for good health behaviors and the appropriate methods for incorporating those behaviors into one's life style may be sufficient when dealing with people who are high on conscientiousness. For people who are low on conscientiousness, programs which rely more on involvement with peers may be appropriate, particularly among those who are agreeable and presumably more responsive to that ...