Personality and Coping

Jul 4, 2009Annual review of psychology

How Personality Relates to Coping Strategies

AI simplified

Longevity & Aging on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Meta-analyses indicate that optimism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness are linked to more engagement coping.

Neuroticism is associated with more disengagement coping responses.
Optimism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness are linked to less disengagement coping.
The relationship between personality traits and specific coping responses is nuanced.
Age, stressor severity, and the timing of coping reports serve as moderators in these associations.
Personality and coping independently and interactively influence physical and mental health.

AI simplified

Personality psychology addresses views of human nature and individual differences. Biological and goal-based views of human nature provide an especially useful basis for construing coping; the five-factor model of traits adds a useful set of individual differences. Coping-responses to adversity and to the distress that results-is categorized in many ways. Meta-analyses link optimism, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to more engagement coping; neuroticism to more disengagement coping; and optimism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness to less disengagement coping. Relations of traits to specific coping responses reveal a more nuanced picture. Several moderators of these associations also emerge: age, stressor severity, and temporal proximity between the coping activity and the coping report. Personality and coping play both independent and interactive roles in influencing physical and mental health. Recommendations are presented for ways future research can expand on the growing understanding of how personality and coping shape adjustment to stress.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

Personality and Coping

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the longevity & aging brief