The ability of personality traits to predict im- portant life outcomes has traditionally been questioned because of the putative small effects of personality. In this article, we compare the predictive validity of personality traits with that of socioeconomic status (SES) and cogni- tive ability to test the relative contribution of personality traits to predictions of three critical outcomes: mortality, divorce, andoccupationalattainment.Onlyevidence from prospective longitudinal studies was considered. In addi- tion, an attempt was made to limit the review to studies that controlled for important background factors. Results showed that the magnitude of the effects of personality traits on mortality, divorce, and occupational attainment wasindistinguishablefrom the effectsofSES and cognitive ability on these outcomes. These results demonstrate the influence of personality traits on important life outcomes, highlight the need to more routinely incorporate measures of personality into quality of life surveys, and encourage further research about the developmental origins of per- sonality traits and the processes by which these traits in- fluence diverse life outcomes.

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The Power of Personality: The Comparative Validity of Personality Traits, Socioeconomic Status, and Cognitive Ability for Predicting Important Life Outcomes:

Objective: To review systematically prospective, observational, cohort studies of the association between positive well-being and mortality using meta-analytic methods. Recent years have witnessed increased interest in the relationship between positive psychological well-being and physical health. Methods: We searched general bibliographic databases: Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed up to January 2008. Two reviewers independently extracted data on Study characteristics, quality, and estimates of associations. Results: There were 35 studies (26 articles) investigating mortality in initially healthy Populations and 35 studies (28 articles) of disease populations. The meta-analyses showed that positive psychological well-being was associated with reduced mortality in both the healthy population (combined hazard ratio (HR) = 0.82; 95% Confidence Interval (Cl) = 0.76-0.89; p < .001) and the disease Population (combined FIR = 0.98; CI = 0.95-1.00; p = .030) studies. There were indications Of publication bias in this literature, although the fail-safe numbers were 2444 and 1397 for healthy and disease Population studies,, respectively. Intriguingly, meta-analysis of studies that controlled for negative affect showed that the protective effects of positive psychological well-being were independent of negative affect. Both positive affect (e.g., emotional well-being, positive mood, joy, happiness, vigor, energy) and positive trait-like dispositions (e.g., life satisfaction, hopefulness, optimism, sense of humor) were associated with reduced mortality in healthy population Studies. Positive psychological well-being was significantly associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality in healthy population studies, and with reduced death rates in patients with renal failure and with human immunodeficiency virus-infection. Conclusions: The Current review suggests that positive psychological well-being has a favorable effect on survival in both healthy and diseased populations.

Positive psychological well-being and mortality: a quantitative review of prospective observational studies.

Stress does not cause cancer per se, but depression and a lack of social support might influence cancer progression and clinical outcome. Can identification of the molecular and biological mechanisms involved be used to improve patient treatment? Epidemiological studies indicate that stress, chronic depression and lack of social support might serve as risk factors for cancer development and progression. Recent cellular and molecular studies have identified biological processes that could potentially mediate such effects. This review integrates clinical, cellular and molecular studies to provide a mechanistic understanding of the interface between biological and behavioural influences in cancer, and identifies novel behavioural or pharmacological interventions that might help improve cancer outcomes.

/pdf/the-influence-of-bio-behavioural-factors-on-tumour-biology-144zmhhl5z.pdf

The influence of bio-behavioural factors on tumour biology: pathways and mechanisms

Background
Prior research links optimism to physical health, but the strength of the association has not been systematically evaluated.

Optimism and Physical Health: A Meta-analytic Review

Background— Trait optimism (positive future expectations) and cynical, hostile attitudes toward others have not been studied together in relation to incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality in postmenopausal women. Methods and Results— Participants were 97 253 women (89 259 white, 7994 black) from the Women’s Health Initiative who were free of cancer and cardiovascular disease at study entry. Optimism was assessed by the Life Orientation Test–Revised and cynical hostility by the cynicism subscale of the Cook Medley Questionnaire. Cox proportional hazard models produced adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) for incident CHD (myocardial infarction, angina, percutaneous coronary angioplasty, or coronary artery bypass surgery) and total mortality (CHD, cardiovascular disease, or cancer related) over ≈8 years. Optimists (top versus bottom quartile [“pessimists”]) had lower age-adjusted rates (per 10 000) of CHD (43 versus 60) and total mortality (46 versus 63). The most cynical, hostile women (top versus bo...

http://healthefoundation.eu/blobs/hiv/Optimism__Cynical_Hostility__and_Incident_Coronary_Heart.pdf

Optimism, Cynical Hostility, and Incident Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that, independent of other known prognostic factors, pessimistic head and neck (H&N) cancer patients have a greater risk of being dead 1 year after diagnosis than do optimistic patients. Patients and Methods: A prospective observational study design was used with a cohort of H&N cancer patients diagnosed during the period from March 1, 1997, to August 31, 1998, at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Clermont-Ferrand, France. Dispositional optimism (DO) was evaluated at baseline using a French version of the Life Orientation Test translated and validated for this study. One-year survival status was collected on all subjects. The analysis of the hypothesized association between DO and 1-year survival was performed using multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for other sociodemographic and clinical variables. Results: The sample size was 101 patients, representing all but one of those patients fitting the inclusion criteria who we...

Laurent Gilain

Papers

Dispositional Optimism Predicts Survival Status 1 Year After Diagnosis in Head and Neck Cancer Patients