Handbook of Personality and Health

There has been a recent resurgence of interest in personality psychology and its applications. This book is organised in three parts: personality and health outcomes; mechanisms relating personality and health; personality specific prevention and intervention. It covers child and adolescence health behaviour as well as that of adults and integrates new developments within personality psychology (such as neurophysiology and temperamental traits) with health psychology and examines major health outcomes such as disease, the mechanisms between these outcomes and personality, and prevention and intervention programmes. About the Editor.

List of Contributors.

Introduction: Who Becomes Sick and Who Stays Healthy, How and Why, and What Can be Done About It (Margarete E. Vollrath).

Part I Personality and Major Health Outcomes.

Chapter 1 Personality, Cardiovascular Disease and Public Health (Martha C. Whitian).

Chapter 2 The Role of Personality in Cancer Onset and Survival (Adelita V. Ranchor and Robbert Sanderman).

Chapter 3 Tiperament and Children’s Unintentional Injuries (David C. Schwebel and Benjamin K. Barton).

Chapter 4 Personality, Stress, and Coping (Norbert K. Simer).

Chapter 5 Personality and Well-Being (Espen Røysamb).

Part II Mediators of the Personality Health Relationship.

Chapter 6 Mechanisms Relating Personality and Health (Deborah J. Wiebe and Katherine T. Fortenberry).

Chapter 7 Personality and Illness Behavior (Paula G. Williams).

Chapter 8 Physiological Pathways from Personality to Health: The Cardiovascular and Immune Systis (Suzanne C. Segerstrom and Timothy W. Smith).

Chapter 9 Personality, Relationships, and Health: a Dynamic-Transactional Perspective (Franz J. Neyer and Judith Lehnart).

Chapter 10 Personality Types, Personality Traits, and Risky Health Behavior (Svenn Torgersen and Margarete E. Vollrath).

Chapter 11 The Possibilities of Personality Psychology and Persons for the Study of Health (Suzanne C. Ouellette and David M. Frost).

Part III Targeting Personality: Prevention and Intervention.

Chapter 12 The Prevention and Treatment of Hostility (Redford B. Williams and Virginia P. Williams).

Chapter 13 Expressive Writing, Psychological Processes, and Personality (Amanda C. Jones and James W. Pennebaker).

Chapter 14 Media, Sensation Seeking, and Prevention (Lewis Donohew).

Chapter 15 The Promotion of Optimism and Health (Derek R. Freres and Jane Gillham).

Index.

Margarete Vollrath is Professor of Personality Psychology at the University of Oslo. As well as teaching personality psychology, she lectures on health psychology and has published a number of journal articles on personality, stress and health behaviour. She recently co-edited a special edition of the European Journal of Personality.

Because it captures biological, psychological, and positional aspects of the individual, personality is now recognized as a key element in understanding health across the long term. By drawing significant attention to models and mechanisms, this impressive and intelligent book helps reveal what is currently known and what remains to be identified in understanding the intriguing associations between individual differences and health.

-- Howard S. Friedman, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Riverside

The leading causes of death in the Western world are diseases of the heart, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, diabetes and unintentional injuries. Personality is a major predictor of the biological reactions, feelings, thoughts and behaviours that are involved in these causes of death.

This handbook brings together state-of-the-art research addressing the complex relationship between personality and health. Written by leading international researchers, the book is divided into three sections: section one examines the influence of personality on health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer; section two explores the mechanisms that mediate the relationship between personality and health, such as health and illness behaviours; section three details personality-specific prevention and intervention techniques. Adult health behaviour and child and adolescent health behaviour are covered.

Handbook of Personality and Health is the first to address these key topics in one comprehensive volume. It will be a valuable resource for all those interested in the intersection between personality and health including researchers, academics, practising health psychologists, and students of health and personality psychology.

Contributors

Benjamin K. Barton, Canada

R. Lewis Donohew, USA

Katherine T. Fortenberry, USA

Derek R. Freres, USA

David M. Frost, USA

Jane Gillham, USA

Amanda C. Jones, USA

Judith Lehnart, Germany

Franz J. Neyer, Germany

Suzanne C. Ouellette, USA

James W. Pennebaker, USA

Adelita V. Ranchor, The Netherlands

Espen Røysamb, Norway

Robbert Sanderman, The Netherlands

David C. Schwebel, USA

Suzanne C. Segerstrom, USA

Norbert K. Semmer, Switzerland

Timothy W. Smith, USA

Svenn Torgersen, Norway

Margarete E. Vollrath, Norway

Martha C. Whiteman, UK

Deborah J. Wiebe, USA

Paula G. Williams, USA

Redford B. Williams, USA

Virginia P. Williams, USA