Can Personality Predict Health

Ever wonder how a modern psychologist is able to accurately discover an individual’s personality traits? There is a system in place called the Big 5 and it allows for an accurate reading of a person’s traits in a simple and quick process. There was a time when it wasn’t such an easy endeavor and it took many psychologists many years of work to refine the process. Early trait theorist Gordon Allport found that it was possible to arrange an individual’s personal traits in order from the most to the least occurring. This list of traits was later reduced by using a statistical technique known as factor analysis. Hans Eysenck was able to narrow down the relationships of personalities to three basic traits. These traits are extroversion-introversion, …show more content…
There is no way a doctor can tell if your body is healthy just by answering a questionnaire. But after reading the article, I felt conflicted about the author’s conclusion. But after reading the participants data was recorded by people they only met once, I feel it could have given a false positive. I feel that this is a correlation research because there was no experiments that took place. There was not an independent variable and nothing was manipulated. We are limited to our interpretation because we are unable to see the data. I feel the data is inconclusive. One reason being is that the people filling out the personality assessments for the people they just met may not be getting accurate results because patients may not be forthcoming and honest when answering questions. I would have to say I do not feel positive towards the report knowing how I scored on my personality test. I scored low on openness and conscientiousness, yet I’m very concerned about my health and well-being. I would have to say this is my personal bias. I do not believe there is any scientific reasoning for