title: Personality, well-being, and health.
abstract: A lifespan perspective on personality and health uncovers new causal pathways and provides a deeper, more nuanced approach to interventions. It is unproven that happiness is a direct cause of good health or that negative emotion, worry, and depression are significant direct causes of disease. Instead, depression-related characteristics are likely often reflective of an already-deteriorating trajectory. It is also unproven that challenging work in a demanding environment usually brings long-term health risks; on the contrary, individual strivings for accomplishment and persistent dedication to one's career or community often are associated with sizeable health benefits. Overall, a substantial body of recent research reveals that conscientiousness plays a very significant role in health, with implications across the lifespan. Much more caution is warranted before policy makers offer narrow health recommendations based on short-term or correlational findings. Attention should be shifted to individual trajectories and pathways to health and well-being.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521; email: Howard.Friedman@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Howard S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Margaret L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kern
mesh_terms: D004644:Emotions; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010551:Personality; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*