Personality and Disease: Correlations of Multiple Trait Scores with Various Illnesses

Correlations between personality measures and self-reported data on health status were examined in a sample of 5133 men and women, aged between 40 and 65. A wider range of diseases was studied than is typical. Small but theoretically meaningful correlations with personality were found for some diseases. Personality syndromes of Emotional Lability, Type A Behaviour, Behavioural Control, Locus of Control over Diseases and Psychoticism were distinguished factorially. Emotional Lability appeared to be the most robust predictor of general disease vulnerability. Some small but significant associations between specific illnesses and Type A and Behavioural Control were also found.