Psychosocial Predictors Of Mental And Physical Health

Aging

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Abstract

Emotional Intelligence, Personality, and Task-Induced Stress[unreadable] Emotional intelligence (EI) may predict stress responses and coping strategies in a variety of applied settings. We compared EI and the personality factors of the Five Factor Model (FFM) as predictors of task-induced stress responses. Participants (N = 200) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 task conditions, 3 of which were designed to be stressful. Results confirmed that low EI was related to worry states and avoidance coping, even with the FFM statistically controlled. However, EI was not specifically related to task-induced changes in stress state. Results also confirmed that Neuroticism related to distress, worry, and emotion-focused coping, and Conscientiousness predicted use of task-focused coping. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] HIV/AIDS Stigmatization[unreadable] [unreadable] HIV/AIDS stigmatization acts as an impediment to prevention and treatment of the disease, as those who are seropositive fail to disclose their status or to seek treatment for fear of rejection or disapproval. Although general factors such as realistic threats, misinformation, or cultural patterns of racism and homophobia have been studied as potential correlates of stigmatization, individual differences in personality have not been studied as a potential correlate. [unreadable] [unreadable] To determine whether stigmatizing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS are associated with personality traits, and whether these associations are generalizable across two cultures, we administered the English and the brief Russian version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a standardized measure of a comprehensive model of personality traits, together with items assessing HIV stigmatization. We hypothesized that stigmatization would be associated chiefly with low Openness to Experience. Self-reports and observer ratings of personality and self-reports of HIV attitudes were collected from volunteers recruited by research assistants. HIV stigmatization was more pronounced in Russia than in the United States, but it was similarly related to personality traits, chiefly low Openness to Experience, a variable associated with other forms of prejudice, and low Agreeableness, suggesting a lack of altruism and sympathy. HIV stigmatization is especially likely to be a problem with people, and in cultures, low in Openness to Experience.[unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] Personality and Body Mass Index (BMI)[unreadable] Given the epidemic proportions of obesity in the US, an important research direction concerns identifying the correlates and causes of obesity. Personality has been studied as a predictor of weight loss in clinically obese samples, but far fewer studies have examined personality-obesity relations in non-clinical samples. We hypothesized negative associations between Conscientiousness and BMI across both genders, and gender-modified effects for Neuroticism and Extraversion. Personality predictors of Body Mass Index (BMI) and its change over a 14-year period were examined in a longitudinal sample of middle-aged community-residing participants. The personality domain of Neuroticism was positively related to average BMI, while Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were negatively related. Relations for three domains were modified by gender. N was significantly related to BMI in females only. Extraversion (E) was positively related to BMI in males, whereas, this relation was non-significant in females. The relation between C and BMI was significant in males and females, however, the magnitude of the negative association was stronger in females. C also predicted change in BMI during midlife such that participants who were lower in C tended to show larger gains in BMI with age.[unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] Age Differences in Recognition of Emotion[unreadable] [unreadable] Across the life span, accurate recognition of emotional stimuli is critical for successful functioning, and may be even more important for older individuals: Past research has shown goals related to emotion regulation and maintaining close interpersonal relationships are favored over other possible goals with advancing age. We examined age differences in emotion recognition from lexical stimuli and facial expressions in a cross-sectional sample of adults aged 18 to 85.[unreadable] [unreadable] Emotion-specific response biases differed by age: Older adults were disproportionately more likely to incorrectly label lexical stimuli as happiness, sadness, and surprise and to incorrectly label facial stimuli as disgust and fear. After these biases were controlled, findings suggested that older adults were less accurate at identifying emotions than were young adults, but the pattern differed across emotions and task types. The lexical task showed stronger age differences than the facial task, and for lexical stimuli, age groups differed in accuracy for all emotional states except fear. For facial stimuli, in contrast, age groups differed only in accuracy for anger, disgust, fear, and happiness.[unreadable] [unreadable] These results importantly show that there are significant age differences in emotion recognition, but this does not necessarily translate into practical difficulties for older individuals. In everyday conversations, emotional meaning is conveyed not just in what is said or facial expressions, but also in how it is said (intonation). Older adults may compensate for deficits in one stimulus modality with information from other sources.