Toward a more systematic, cumulative, and applicable science of personality and health: lessons from type D personality.

摘要

The potential influence of personality characteristics on physical health generally-and on cardiovascular disease, in particular-has been a central topic in psychosomatic medicine, behavioral medicine, and health psychology for decades. In some instances, over time, research has produced a more refined understanding of psychosocial influences on health, as in the evolution of the Type A/B distinction (1) to a more specific focus on hostility, anger, and other components of the original construct (2,3). Several personality constructs seem to have reliable associations with later health (4,5). Yet, personality traits are sometimes introduced to the field with too little attention to their overlap with previously studied constructs, and they often fade from view when research turns elsewhere, impeding the development of a systematic and cumulative literature that could eventually support the development of risk-reducing interventions.