Personality and health-protective behaviour

Abstract

Over the last decades much research has been devoted to the analysis of psychosocial factors associated with the development of health problems. However, less attention has been paid to mechanisms explaining why people keep engaging in risky behaviours and do not develop, instead, those habits that could increase their quality of life. To answer these questions, two lines of research have been followed: the main hypothesis of the first line is that there are personality characteristics that predispose the development of certain patterns of behaviour. The second line is focused on the analysis of the psychological processes that, together with situational factors, explain what behaviour is initiated and how it is maintained or changed. The main purpose of this paper is to review these two lines of research: what their main contributions are and what the problems they face are. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Relationship between Temperament, Job Stress and Overcommitment: A Cross-sectional Study Using the TEMPS-A and a Scale of ERI

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Decoding the XXI Century’s Marketing Shift: An Agency Theory Framework

“…Personality theory can be used to anticipate patterns of behaviour [59][60][61][62], and hence become a determinant for eigenbehaviour. The direction of development and the implementation of the eigenbehaviour is given by eigenvectors that are the result of eigenvalues.…”

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“…Results of those studies concordantly show that nowadays the main causes of mortality and serious diseases could be prevented or at least alleviated by changing certain behaviors or lifestyles (e.g., dietary behavior, physical activity, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, risky sexual behavior, etc.). However, there are only a few studies that investigate the reasons and mechanisms why some people engage in such behaviors and do not change risky behaviors despite knowing the consequences of these unhealthy behaviors, while others develop a healthier lifestyle (e.g., Bermúdez, 1999).…”

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