Personality and Coping

This chapter reviews models of personality and coping, explores relationships between them, and discusses how they influence mental and physical health outcomes. Aspects of personality outlined include the five-factor model, optimism, and expectancy-value motivational processes. Subsets of coping responses are addressed, including problem-focused versus emotion-focused coping, engagement versus disengagement coping, and proactive coping. Personality traits affect stress appraisal, influence coping style, and moderate effectiveness of coping techniques. Two pathways are explored that explain effective and proactive coping influences on health outcomes, including mitigation of the physiological stress response and increased engagement in health-promoting behaviors, which are also predicted by personality variables. Future directions are suggested for understanding coping and personality and for enhancing coping techniques in the context of health stressors.