It is not a secret that our set of mind and character traits directly influence the state of our health. Jokela et al. study the connection between the Big Five personality traits that include extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience, and conscientiousness and coronary heart disease and heart stroke mortality (Jokela et al., 2014, p. 882). According to the authors, the higher risk of mortality from coronary heart disease is associated with lower conscientiousness, lower agreeableness, lower extraversion, higher neuroticism, and lower openness to experience; at the same time, the higher risk of stroke mortality is associated with lower consciousness only (Jokela et al., 2014, p. 885). The intended audience of the article includes specialists in psychosomatic medicine and sociologists as the Big Five personality traits allow connecting the risk of heart diseases with the personality psychological portrait. Also, the article could be useful for everybody interested in the issue.
The article is written with the use of clear and logical language. The authors make their conclusions on the basis of the data analysis of the participants who died from coronary heart disease and heart stroke. Also, the findings are supported by the previous studies; for instance, earlier, Steptoe & Molloy discovered the connection between depression and lower social support and cardiovascular mortality (Steptoe & Molloy, 2007, p. 783). The Big Five personality traits largely influence the appearing of the mentioned features, and thus, the studies correlate with each other. At the same time, Jokela et al. highlight the necessity of the further studies to confirm their findings; however, they do not mention their limitations and do not suggest possible improvements.
In my opinion, the study of Jokela et al. is useful as really highlights the connection between the personality traits and the possibility of mortality from heart diseases. Nowadays, we live in cities and conglomerates, and the rapid pace of life is often connected with the traits that the authors consider risky. The study explains that to solve the mentioned public issue, we need to change our attitudes and mental state first of all.
References
Jokela, M., Pulkki-Raback, L., Elovainio, M., & Kivimaki, M. (2014). Personality traits as risk factors for stroke and coronary heart disease mortality: pooled analysis of three cohort studies. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 37(5), 881-889. Retrieved from http://blogs.helsinki.fi/mmjokela/files/2014/01/jokela_personality_cvd_JBM.pdf.
Steptoe, A., & Molloy, G. J. (2007). Personality and heart disease. Heart, 93, 783-784. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1994437/pdf/783.pdf.
