Neuroticism and health as individuals age.

Abstract

Neuroticism and conscientiousness have emerged as key concepts in understanding health and thriving as individuals age, but various conceptual misunderstandings and methodological deficiencies have impaired progress. Personality traits are not analogous to health threats such as infectious microbes or dangerous behaviors or environmental toxins; rather, they can capture biopsychosocial processes across time. This article examines how healthy neuroticism and unhealthy neuroticism play out in differing environments and how these concepts can help clarify and explain the important variability in health and longevity that emerges in middle age. Progress in utilizing personality to improve public health ultimately will depend on the precise study and full specification of causal models, including pathways across time and clear description of unambiguous outcomes.

A New Look at Neuroticism: Should We Worry So Much About Worrying?

“…", was associated with better health, and that the other neuroticism variance was related to poorer health (Weston & Jackson, 2018). It is also consistent with earlier reports that people high in neuroticism tend to report symptoms more frequently even if there is no underlying disease (Costa & McCrae, 1987) and seek medical attention more often (B. Friedman, Veazie, Chapman, Manning, & Duberstein, 2013), and so these individuals may be more likely to be diagnosed and treated at earlier stages of a disease process (H. S. Friedman, 2019). Further work in this direction will bring us closer to understanding the causal framework undergirding personality and health, and neuroticism itself.…”

“…The studies that show that neuroticism can be protective are 'good studies': they have sufficient power and the neuroticism measures are reliable and well-validated. In response to these and other findings, some have urged researchers to revise or develop new causal frameworks that allow cultural, cohort, or period norms, or other influences, to modify how personality traits are expressed in health-relevant ways (H. S. Friedman, 2019;H. S. Friedman, Kern, Hampson, & Duckworth, 2014;Shanahan, Hill, Roberts, Eccles, & Friedman, 2014).…”

Is Healthy Neuroticism Associated with Health Behaviors? A Coordinated Integrative Data Analysis

“…The existence of healthy neuroticism has been debated for close to two decades, beginning with Friedman (2000Friedman ( , 2019 who introduced the idea that neuroticism, while often bad for health, could also be beneficial in some circumstances. An individual's level of neuroticism, combined with their unique constellation of the other Big Five traits, can, in theory, contribute to healthy or unhealthy choices.…”

Disease avoidance in the time of COVID-19: The behavioral immune system is associated with concern and preventative health behaviors

“…For instance, greater religiosity and conscientiousness have been associated with engaging in more health promotive behaviors (e.g., more physical activity, less alcohol consumption; [16,17]), which may extend to COVID-19 preventative health behaviors. Neuroticism has been associated with more attention to health concerns and physical symptoms [18], but less health promotive behavior [17]. Political orientation has specifically been associated with differential responses to COVID-19, with Democrats reporting more concern and greater engagement in preventative health behaviors than Republicans [19].…”