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Some Cautions for Research on Personality and Health
Author(s) -
Krantz David S.,
Hedges Susan M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1987.tb00441.x
Subject(s) - sophistication , psychology , personality , big five personality traits , disease , social psychology , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , social science , sociology , pathology
This article comments on three conceptualizations of the relationship between personality and disease as they relate to the papers in this issue Despite the sophistication and promise of recent research in this area, conceptual and methodological difficulties present in earlier psychosomatic research have persisted In this area, robust and convincing associations between traits and disease remain largely elusive, and stable, valid measures of psychological factors are relatively rare In addition, the mechanisms relating behavior to health are sometimes sketchy or overstated We suggest that the most productive research strategies will focus on mechanisms linking behavior to health, rather than merely correlating traits with measures of disease Needed are continued close attention to these pitfalls by researchers as well as the maintenance of a critical attitude by readers