Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

514 CHAPTER 12 Stress, Health, and CopingCRITICAL THINKINGDo Personality Factors Cause Disease?• You overhear a co-worker saying, “I’m not surprised he hada heart attack—the guy is a workaholic!”• An acquaintance casually remarks, “She’s been so depressedsince her divorce. No wonder she got cancer.”• A tabloid headline hails, “New Scientific Findings: Use YourMind to Cure Cancer!”Statements like these make health psychologists, physicians, andpsychoneuroimmunologists extremely uneasy. Why? Throughoutthis chapter, we’ve presented scientific evidence that emotionalstates can affect the functioning of the endocrine system and theimmune system. Both systems play a significant role in the developmentof various physical disorders. We’ve also shown that personalityfactors, such as hostility and pessimism, are associatedwith an increased likelihood of developing poor health. But sayingthat “emotions affect the immune system” is a far cry frommaking such claims as “a positive attitude can cure cancer.”Psychologists and other scientists are cautious in the statementsthey make about the connections between personalityand health for several reasons. First, many studies investigatingthe role of psychological factors in disease are correlational. Thatis, researchers have statistical evidence that two factors happentogether so often that the presence of one factor reliably predictsthe occurrence of the other. However, correlation does notnecessarily indicate causality—it indicates only that two factorsoccur together. It’s completely possible that some third, unidentifiedfactor may have caused the other two factors to occur.Second, personality factors might indirectly lead to disease viapoor health habits. Low control, pessimism, chronic negativeemotions, and hostility are each associated with poor healthhabits (Anton & Miller, 2005; Herbert & Cohen, 1993; Peterson,2000). In turn, poor health habits are associated with higher ratesof illness. That’s why psychologists who study the role of personalityfactors in disease are typically careful to measure and considerthe possible influence of the participants’ health practices.Third, it may be that the disease influences a person’s emotions,rather than the other way around. After being diagnosed with advancedcancer or heart disease, most people would probably findit difficult to feel cheerful, optimistic, or in control of their lives.“What do you mean, I have an ulcer?I give ulcers, I don’t get them!”One way researchers try to disentangle the relationship betweenpersonality and health is to conduct carefully controlledprospective studies. A prospective study starts by assessing an initiallyhealthy group of participants on variables thought to be riskfactors, such as certain personality traits. Then the researcherstrack the health, personal habits, health habits, and other importantdimensions of the participants’ lives over a period of months,years, or decades. In analyzing the results, researchers can determinethe extent to which each risk factor contributed to thehealth or illness of the participants. Thus, prospective studies providemore compelling evidence than do correlational studies thatare based on people who are already in poor health.CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS Given that health professionals frequently advise people tochange their health-related behaviors to improve physicalhealth, should they also advise people to change their psychologicalattitudes, traits, and emotions? Why or why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages of correlationalstudies? Prospective studies?© 2002 The New Yorker Collectionfrom cartoonbank.com. Joseph Farris.Social Factors: A Little Help from Your FriendsKey Theme• Social support refers to the resources provided by other people.Key Questions• How has social support been shown to benefit health?• How can relationships and social connections sometimes increase stress?• What gender differences have been found in social support and its effects?Psychologists have become increasingly aware of the importance that close relationshipsplay in our ability to deal with stressors and, ultimately, in our physical health.Consider the following research evidence: