The role of vigilance in the relationship between neuroticism and health: A registered report

Abstract

The theory of healthy neuroticism, that neuroticism can impact health through both negative and positive pathways, often relies on descriptions of vigilance to illustrate beneficial effects. The current study is among the first to describe the relationship of neuroticism to body vigilance and test the degree to which this relationship impacts health. In an online participant panel (N = 1055), neuroticism was associated with one factor of vigilance: sensation awareness belief. This factor had a suppression effect on the relationship between neuroticism and healthy behavior, such that the effect of neuroticism through vigilance was healthy, whereas the direct effect was unhealthy. We discuss the implications of these findings and caution against using vigilance to explain the heterogeneity in neuroticism-health relationships.

A New Look at Neuroticism: Should We Worry So Much About Worrying?

“…This explanation is consistent with a recent study in which the authors found that the neuroticism variation that overlapped with "bodily vigilance", which was measured by questions such as "How much do you wonder about why your body feels the way it does? ", was associated with better health, and that the other neuroticism variance was related to poorer health (Weston & Jackson, 2018). It is also consistent with earlier reports that people high in neuroticism tend to report symptoms more frequently even if there is no underlying disease (Costa & McCrae, 1987) and seek medical attention more often (B. Friedman, Veazie, Chapman, Manning, & Duberstein, 2013), and so these individuals may be more likely to be diagnosed and treated at earlier stages of a disease process (H. S. Friedman, 2019).…”

Daily Responsiveness, Expectations, and Self–disclosure: How the Average Levels and Within–person Variability of Three Relationship Components Mediate Personality–Relationship Transactions in Romantic Couples

“…Given that people with interpersonal vulnerabilities are inclined to be more reactive, vigilant, and insecure (e.g. Ravary & Baldwin, 2018; Suls & Martin, 2005; Wei et al, 2005; Weston & Jackson, 2018), we see interpersonal vulnerabilities as predictors of lower average levels and higher within‐person variability of beneficial relationship components. The lower levels and higher variability are considered to mediate selection effects between interpersonal vulnerabilities (i.e.…”

Daily Responsiveness, Expectations, and Self-Disclosure: How the Average Levels and Within-Person Variability of Three Relationship Components Mediate Personality–Relationship Transactions in Romantic Couples

“…Given that people with interpersonal vulnerabilities are inclined to be more reactive, vigilant, and insecure (e.g. Ravary & Baldwin, 2018;Suls & Martin, 2005;Wei et al, 2005;Weston & Jackson, 2018), we see interpersonal vulnerabilities as predictors of lower average levels and higher within-person variability of beneficial relationship components. The lower levels and higher variability are considered to mediate selection effects between interpersonal vulnerabilities (i.e.…”