Personality and Disease

A tremendous amount of research has been performed looking at the relationship between personality and disease. Research on this topic has been spread throughout scientific journals on psychology, behavioral health, psychoneuroimmunology, oncology, and epidemiology. Personality and Disease brings this research together in one place for the first time.

With contributions from world experts, the book summarizes research findings on personality as it relates to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and allergies, dementia, and more. Is there such a thing as a cancer- prone personality? Do sadness, anger, stress, or shyness affect the likelihood that we will fall ill to specific diseases? Can we protect ourselves from disease through a positive outlook?

This book will address both what we know, and what we persist in believing despite evidence to the contrary, and why such beliefs persist in the face of evidence.

• Investigates whether and how personality affects disease generally
• Includes cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma, allergies, and dementia
• Separates fact from fiction, evidence from beliefs
• Collates research from a wide variety of scientific domains
• Contains international perspectives from top scholars

Researchers in health psychology, psychoneuroimmunology, behavioral medicine

1. A Brief Historical Overview on Links Between Personality and Health
Jesper Dammeyer and Ingo Zettler
2. How to Measure the Personality
Per Bech
3. Personality as Determinant of Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, Physical Activity, and Diet Preferences
Christian Hakulinen and Markus Jokela
4. Personality and Cardiovascular Disease
Pernille E. Bidstrup, Ivalu K. Sørensen and Emil Wolsk
5. Personality and Type 2 Diabetes: An Overview of the Epidemiological Evidence
Mika Kivimäki, G. David Batty and Markus Jokela
6. Personality and Dementia: Personality as Risk Factor or as Early Manifestation in Dementing Disorders?
Lianne M. Reus, Lena Johansson and Pieter J. Visser
7. Personality, Asthma, and Allergies
Adrian Furnham and Helen Cheng
8. The Personality and Risk for Cancer
Christoffer Johansen
9. Personality and Social Relationships: As Thick as Thieves
Marcus Mund, Bertus F. Jeronimus and Franz J. Neyer
10. Personality Genetics
Jaime Derringer
11. The Enduring Appeal of Psychosocial Explanations of Physical Illness
Roderick D. Buchanan, Nick Haslam and Wade Pickren
12. What Mechanisms Explain the Links Between Personality and Health?
Deborah J. Wiebe, Anna Song and Maria D. Ramirez Loyola