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What was the aim of Marmot et al s 1997 study?

Who were their participants, and what independent variable were they investigating? What did they find? What did they conclude? What are the strengths and limitations of the sample used? What type of research method was this? What are the strengths and limitations of this?

What are individual differences? What individual differences may affect the way people deal with stressful situations?

Define personality as used by psychologists Explain what is meant by Type A and Type B personality. Describe and evaluate a research study into the link between Type A personality and stress related illness.

In its broadest sense, personality can be thought of as a set of characteristic behaviours, attitudes and general temperament that remain relatively stable and distinguish one individual from another.

What traits or characteristics would make someone a) more vulnerable to the damaging effects of stress, b) protected from the damaging effects of stress.

Friedman and Rosenman (1959) described a Type A individual as:


 Aggressive  Ambitious  Having a competitive drive  Having a chronic sense of time urgency

Characteristics lead to raised BP and hormone levels

Personality relatively lacking in Type A characteristics Which personality type are you? Complete and score the questionnaire to find out

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Aim: To assess hypothesis that CHD is associated with Type A personality Method: Approx 3,000 men aged 39-59, living in California, examined for signs of CHD (to exclude those already ill) and personality assessed in a structured interview. Interview = 25 Q s concerned with how individual responds to everyday pressures. Conducted in provocative manner to elicit Type A behaviour.

Findings:
 After 8.5 years, twice as many Type A

participants had died of cardiovascular problems.  Type A s had higher BP, cholesterol, lipoproteins  Type A s had more cases of manifest CHD  Type A s more likely to smoke and have family history of CHD (indirectly increasing risk)

Suppress emotions, particularly negative ones Unassertive Likeable Rarely get into arguments Generally helpful to others

Temshok (1987) suggests Type C s cope with stress in a way that ignores their own needs in order to please others. Chronic stressors affect immune system and increase risk for cancer whereas acute stressors activate ANS and endocrine system and increase risk for CHD.

Greer et al. (1979) found women with a fighting spirit were more likely to recover from cancer. Suggests behaviour patterns are a cause of health or illness rather than an effect.

Gloomy Socially inept Suppress emotional distress Higher risk of heart attack Associated with depression and social alienation

Work out your scores for the three elements of the Hardy personality. Why do you have to subtract some scores and add others? Why not design a questionnaire so you can simply add them?

Kobasa (1979) suggested some people are more psychologically hardy than others.  See themselves as in c_____.  Have sense of c_________ to the world around them don t stand and watch.  See change as an enjoyable c_______. Enables them to cope better with stress. Hardiness can be taught and used as s_____m_________technique.

Kobasa (1979) suggested some people are more psychologically hardy than others.  See themselves as in control.  Have sense of commitment to the world around them don t stand and watch.  See change as an enjoyable challenge. Enables them to cope better with stress. Hardiness can be taught and used as stress management technique.

Nemeroff and Musselman (2000) found evidence of direct link between personality and illness. Depressed people had 41% more sticky platelets in blood than normal participants. Giving Prozac almost got rid of platelets. Placebo also made no. platelets drop! Suggests mood is influencing body s systems

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