Personality and physical health: toward an ecological approach to health-related personality research

Abstract

A vast academic literature shows that personality significantly mediates and moderates relationships between environmental stress and the onset and progression of physical disease. In the psychological literature, several models have been proposed for such links between personality and disease. Most of these models focus on the role of stress resistance, induced hyperactivity, constitutional predispositions, and risk factors such as the voluntary or forced exposure to perilous circumstances. It will be argued that at this moment, more than ever, personality psychologists and health psychologists should pose the fundamental question ‘What units shall we employ?’. A multifactor approach is suggested that acknowledges the role of (i) environmental factors as well as (ii) the individual's personal resources. Examples will be given of how the adoption of an ecological perspective can provide the tools for studying conditional effects in personality and disease research. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.