Two kinds of psychological factors influence personal health: health-
Different health problems seem to plague different social groups. For example, men are more susceptible to heart disease than are women, and African Americans are more susceptible to asthma than are Asian or European Americans. Beyond these general social categories, personality turns out to be a factor in wellness, with individual differences in optimism and hardiness important influences.
Pollyanna is one of literature’s most famous optimists. Eleanor H. Porter’s 1913 novel portrayed Pollyanna as a girl who greeted life with boundless good cheer, even when she was orphaned and sent to live with her cruel aunt. Her response to a sunny day was to remark on the good weather, of course, but her response to a gloomy day was to point out how lucky it is that not every day is gloomy! Her crotchety Aunt Polly had exactly the opposite attitude, somehow managing to turn every happy moment into an opportunity for strict correction. A person’s level of optimism or pessimism tends to be fairly stable over time, and research comparing the personalities of twins reared together versus those reared apart suggests that this stability arises because these traits are moderately heritable (Plomin et al., 1992). Perhaps Pollyanna and Aunt Polly were each “born that way.”
An optimist who believes that “in uncertain times, I usually expect the best” is likely to be healthier than a pessimist who believes that “if something can go wrong for me, it will.” One recent review of dozens of studies including tens of thousands of participants concluded that of all of the measures of psychological well-
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Who’s healthier, the optimist or the pessimist? Why?
Rather than improving physical health directly, optimism seems to aid in the maintenance of psychological health in the face of physical health problems. When sick, optimists are more likely than pessimists to maintain positive emotions, avoid negative emotions such as anxiety and depression, stick to medical regimens their caregivers have prescribed, and keep up their relationships with others. Among women who have surgery for breast cancer, for example, optimists are less likely to experience distress and fatigue after treatment than are pessimists, largely because they keep up social contacts and recreational activities during their treatment (Carver, Lehman, & Antoni, 2003). Optimism also seems to aid in the maintenance of physical health. For instance, optimism appears to be associated with cardiovascular health because optimistic people tend to engage in healthier behaviors like eating a balanced diet and exercising, which in turn leads to a healthier lipid profile (i.e., higher levels of high-
The benefits of optimism raise an important question: If the traits of optimism and pessimism are stable over time—
Some people seem to be thick-
Can just anyone develop hardiness? Researchers have attempted to teach hardiness with some success. In one such attempt, participants attended 10 weekly hardiness-
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Even without changing our personalities at all, we can do certain things to be healthy. The importance of healthy eating, safe sex, and giving up smoking are common knowledge. But we don’t seem to be acting on the basis of this knowledge. At the turn of the 21st century, 69% of Americans over 20 are overweight or obese (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012). The prevalence of unsafe sex is difficult to estimate, but 65 million Americans currently suffer from an incurable sexually transmitted disease (STD), and 20 million contract one or more new STDs each year (Satterwhite et al., 2013). Another million people live with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), 18.1% of whom are unaware of their infection, which is usually contracted through unprotected sex with an infected partner (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). And despite endless warnings, 21% of Americans still smoke cigarettes (Pleis et al., 2009). What’s going on?
Why is it difficult to achieve and maintain self-
Doing what is good for you is not necessarily easy. Mark Twain once remarked, “The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” Engaging in health-
Self-
Sometimes, though, self-
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In many Western cultures, the weight of the average citizen is increasing alarmingly. One explanation is based on our evolutionary history: In order to ensure their survival, our ancestors found it useful to eat well in times of plenty to store calories for leaner times. In postindustrial societies in the 21st century, however, there are no leaner times, and people can’t burn all of the calories they consume (Pinel, Assanand, & Lehman, 2000). But why, then, isn’t obesity endemic throughout the Western world? Why are people in France leaner on average than Americans, even though their foods are high in fat? One reason has to do with the fact that activity level in France is greater. Research by Paul Rozin and his colleagues also finds that portion sizes in France are significantly smaller than in the United States, but at the same time, people in France take longer to finish their smaller meals. At a McDonald’s in France, diners take an average of 22 minutes to consume a meal, whereas in the United States, they take under 15 minutes (Rozin, Kabnick, et al., 2003). Right now, Americans seem to be involved in some kind of national eating contest, whereas in France people are eating less food more slowly, perhaps leading them to be more conscious of what they are eating. This, ironically, probably leads to lower French fry consumption.
Short of moving to France, what can you do? Studies indicate that dieting doesn’t always work because the process of conscious self-
Why is exercise a more effective weight-
The restraint problem may be inherent in the very act of self-
People put themselves at risk when they have unprotected vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse. Sexually active adolescents and adults are usually aware of such risks, not to mention the risk of unwanted pregnancy, and yet many behave in risky ways nonetheless. Why doesn’t awareness translate into avoidance? Risk takers harbor an illusion of unique invulnerability, a systematic bias toward believing that they are less likely to fall victim to the problem than are others (Perloff & Fetzer, 1986). For example, a study of sexually active female college students found that respondents judged their own likelihood of getting pregnant in the next year as less than 10%, but estimated the average for other women at the university to be 27% (Burger & Burns, 1988). Paradoxically, this illusion was even stronger among women in the sample who reported using inadequate or no contraceptive techniques. The tendency to think “It won’t happen to me” may be most pronounced when it probably will.
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Why does planning ahead reduce sexual risk taking?
Unprotected sex often is the impulsive result of last-
One in two smokers dies prematurely from smoking-
Nicotine, the active ingredient in cigarettes, is addictive, so smoking is difficult to stop once the habit is established (discussed in the Consciousness chapter). As in other forms of self-
To quit smoking forever, how many times do you need to quit?
Psychological programs and techniques to help people kick the habit include nicotine replacement systems such as gum and skin patches, counseling programs, and hypnosis, but these programs are not always successful. Trying again and again in different ways is apparently the best approach (Schachter, 1982). After all, to quit smoking forever, you only need to quit one more time than you start up. But like the self-
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In the chapter on Emotion and Motivation you learned about the health benefits and risks associated with what you eat. In this chapter, you learned that what you do (Do you exercise?) and what you think (Are you an optimist?) also can influence your experience of stress and health. The research is clear that people who eat right and exercise regularly have better mental and physical health outcomes. Is it our business, then, to try to get people to eat better and exercise more?
The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, recently advocated for a tax on large, sugary drinks, which has been nicknamed the “soda tax.” Some have praised this idea, believing that it is our responsibility to structure society in a way that improves the health of our citizens, and especially our children. Others have criticized this initiative, arguing that we live in a free country and people should be free to drink all of the soda and avoid all of the exercise they want. Economist Robert Frank recently weighed in on this issue, considering the pros and cons of a soda tax.
On narrow technical grounds, a New York State court recently rejected Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposed curbs on large sodas and other sugary drinks. The ruling is being appealed, but many people who viewed the proposal as a step down a slippery slope to a nanny state were quick to celebrate the court’s move. Beyond questioning the mayor’s legal authority to impose a 16-
But while almost everyone celebrates freedom in the abstract, defending one cherished freedom often requires sacrificing another. Whatever the flaws in Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal, it sprang from an entirely commendable concern: a desire to protect parents’ freedom to raise healthy children.
Being free to do something doesn’t just mean being legally permitted to do it. It also means having a reasonable prospect of being able to do it. Parents don’t want their children to become obese, or to suffer the grave consequences of diet-
The mayor’s critics want to protect their own freedom to consume soft drinks in 32-
Does frequent exposure to supersize sodas really limit parents’ freedom to raise healthy children? There’s room for skepticism, because people often believe that they’re not much influenced by others’ opinions and behavior. But believing doesn’t make it so.
As an Illinois state legislator in 1842, Abraham Lincoln deftly illustrated the absurdity of this particular conceit: “Let me ask the man who could maintain this position most stiffly, what compensation he will accept to go to church some Sunday and sit during the sermon with his wife’s bonnet upon his head?” Most men, Lincoln conjectured, would demand a considerable sum—
Even those who concede the obvious power of the social environment have little reason to worry about how their own choices might alter it. Collectively, however, our choices can profoundly transform the environment, often in ways that cause serious problems. And that makes the social environment an object of legitimate public concern.
Imagine a society like the United States before 1964, where unregulated individual choices produced high percentages of smokers in the population—
Smokers harm not only themselves and those who inhale secondhand smoke but also those who simply want their children to grow up to be nonsmokers. People can urge their children to ignore peer influences, of course, but that’s often a losing battle.
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No rational deliberation about smoking policies can ignore the fact that smoking harms others in this way. Such considerations helped give rise to a variety of policies that discourage smoking. In New York City, for example, smoking is no longer permitted in many public places, and state and city taxes on a pack of cigarettes are now near $6.
Such policies have reduced the national smoking rate by more than half since 1965, making it much easier for parents to raise their children to be nonsmokers. That’s an enormous benefit. Opponents of smoking restrictions must be prepared to show that those adversely affected by them suffer harm that outweighs that benefit. Given that the overwhelming majority of smokers themselves regret having taken up the habit, that’s a tall order.
Parallel arguments apply to sugary drinks. Unless we’re prepared to deny, against all evidence, that the environment powerfully influences children’s choices, we’re forced to conclude that rejecting Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal significantly curtails parents’ freedom to achieve the perfectly reasonable goal of raising healthy children. Why should opponents of the mayor’s proposal be permitted to limit parents’ freedom in this way, merely to spare themselves the trivial inconvenience of having to order a second 16-
Fortunately, society’s legitimate interest in the social environment needn’t be expressed by means of invasive prohibitions. The public policy goal that prompted the mayor’s proposal could also be served in more direct and less intrusive ways.
For example, we could tax sugary soft drinks. In 2010, the mayor himself praised a proposal for a penny-
The case for reintroducing such a proposal is strong. We have to tax something, after all, and taxing soft drinks would let us reduce taxes now imposed on manifestly useful activities. At the federal level, for example, a tax on soda would permit a reduction in the payroll tax, which would encourage businesses to hire more workers.
Just as few smokers are glad that they smoke, few people go to their graves wishing that they and their loved ones had drunk more sugary soft drinks. Evidence suggests that the current high volume of soft-
Where do you stand? The research described in this textbook makes clear that healthier eating and behavior lead to better health outcomes—
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