Personality and Physical Health: An Introduction

Suls, Jerry; Rittenhouse, Joan Dunne

doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00433.x

Cited by 78 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Type A and hardiness were not the only constructs to be studied in this way. Other individual differences, such as locus of control (Lefcourt, Miller, Ware, & Sherk, 1981), self-consciousness (Suls & Fletcher, 1985b), and explanatory style (Alloy, Peterson, Abramson, & Seligman, 1984;Peterson & Seligman, 1987), were also proposed to have direct effects or serve as moderators of the effects of life stress on psychological or physical disorder (see S. Cohen & Edwards, 1989;Suls & Rittenhouse, 1987).…”

Section: Transactional Perspective: the Second Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and Coping: Three Generations of Research

Suls

David

Harvey

1996

Journal of Personality

Self Cite

144

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This article introduces the Journal of Personality's special issue on coping and personality. It first presents a historical overview of the psychological study of how people cope with stress and identifies three generations of theory and research: (a) the psychoanalysts and the ego development school, which tended to equate personality and coping strategies; (b) the transactional approach, which appeared in the 1960s and emphasized situational and cognitive influences on coping while downplaying the role of individual differences; and (c) the most recent, "third generation," whose work is represented in this special issue and focuses on the role of personality in coping while maintaining strong operational distinctions among coping, personality, appraisal, and adaptational outcomes. This introduction concludes with a discussion of unresolved conceptual and methodological issues and a brief orientation to the third-generation articles that follow in this special issue.

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Section: Transactional Perspective: the Second Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and Coping: Three Generations of Research

Suls

David

Harvey

1996

Journal of Personality

Self Cite

144

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“…By the late '~O S , psychosomatic medicine had fallen into disfavor. As Suls and Rittenhouse (1987) have noted, the notion of psychosomatic disorders was found t o have too little explanatory and predictive power. While ostensively explaining how arousal might contribute to physical illness, psychosomatic concepts failed to explain why only some persons became ill or why illness should take a particular form.…”

Section: The Rise and Fall Of Psychosomatic Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Psychosomatic Family” Reconsidered Ii: Recalling a Defective Model and Looking Ahead

Coyne

Anderson

1989

J Marital Family Therapy

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The notion of the "psychosomatic" family continues to enjoy uncritical acceptance in the absence of promised data and despite its dependence on an outmoded view of how psychosocial factors are involved in illness. We review the decline of psychosomatic models of illness that assume that arousal is the only or primary means by which psychosocial factors influence illness. Focusing on brittle diabetes, we note the potential for family theorists to develop more adequate models of poor self-care and medical crises as interactional tactics, as dynamic efforts to solve problems, define relationships, and influence others, even if they are costly and self-defeating. In an appendix, we note the inadequacy of Rosman and Baker's (1988) reanalyses of the Minuchin, Rosman and Baker (1978) data.

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“…Other hypotheses and conclusions, such as the role of chronic negative affect in disease (Friedman & Booth-Kewley 1987), were initially met by thoughtful and heuristically valuable critiques (e.g., Matthews 1988, Stone & Costa 1990, and appeared again later with more convincing support (Suls & Bunde 2005). Topics such as the concept of psychological hardiness (Kobasa 1979) were central in the emergence of personality and health research (Suls & Rittenhouse 1987) and can still be seen as important influences on subsequent developments, even though they faded in prominence as the field evolved. In addition, new topics based in mainstream personality theory have emerged as potentially important influences on health, such as the role of conscientiousness (Friedman et al 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and Risk of Physical Illness

Smith

MacKenzie

2006

Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol.

267

254

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Several personality characteristics have been linked in multiple well-designed prospective studies to subsequent physical health outcomes, such as longevity and the development and course of cardiovascular disease. The evidence is strongest for negative affectivity/neuroticism, anger/hostility and related traits, and optimism. Models of mechanisms underlying these associations have emphasized physiological effects of stress, exposure to stressors, and health behavior. Preliminary evidence supports the viability of some mechanisms, but formal mediational tests are lacking. In addition to addressing limitations and inconsistencies in this literature, future research should address developmental aspects of these psychosocial risk factors, contextual moderators of their health effects, and intervention applications in the prevention and management of disease. In these efforts, greater incorporation of concepts and methods in the structural, social-cognitive, and interpersonal perspectives in the field of personality are needed.

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Personality and Physical Health: An Introduction

Cited by 78 publications

References 33 publications

Personality and Coping: Three Generations of Research

Personality and Coping: Three Generations of Research

The “Psychosomatic Family” Reconsidered Ii: Recalling a Defective Model and Looking Ahead

Personality and Risk of Physical Illness

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