Title
Behavioral Adjustment Moderates the Link Between Neuroticism and Biological Health Risk: A U.S.–Japan Comparison Study
Date Issued
01 June 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Kitayama Shinobu
Park J.
Miyamoto Y.
Date H.
Boylan J.M.
Markus H.R.
Karasawa M.
Kawakami N.
Coe C.L.
Love G.D.
Ryff C.D.
Publisher(s)
SAGE Publications Inc.
Abstract
Neuroticism, a broad personality trait linked to negative emotions, is consistently linked to ill health when self-report is used to assess health. However, when health risk is assessed with biomarkers, the evidence is inconsistent. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the association between neuroticism and biological health risk is moderated by behavioral adjustment, a propensity to flexibly adjust behaviors to environmental contingencies. Using a U.S.–Japan cross-cultural survey, we found that neuroticism was linked to lower biological health risk for those who are high, but not low, in behavioral adjustment. Importantly, Japanese were higher in behavioral adjustment than European Americans, and as predicted by this cultural difference, neuroticism was linked to lower biological health risk for Japanese but not for European Americans. Finally, consistent with prior evidence, neuroticism was associated with worse self-reported health regardless of behavioral adjustment or culture. Discussion focused on the significance of identifying sociocultural correlates of biological health.
Start page
809
End page
822
Volume
44
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Psicología (incluye terapias de aprendizaje, habla, visual y otras discapacidades físicas y mentales) Neurología clínica
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85042903574
PubMed ID
Source
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
ISSN of the container
01461672
Sponsor(s)
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (5R37AG027343) to conduct a study of Midlife in Japan (MIDJA) for comparative analysis with MIDUS (Midlife in the United States, P01-AG020166).
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus