Personality and Cardiovascular Disease

This chapter provides an overview of the research on personality traits and risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD). The research area was initiated in the 1950s where the first studies were conducted on people with Type A personality characterized by being hostile, competitive, aggressive, and having time urgency. The first studies suggested that persons with Type A personality had an increased risk of CVD compared with other personality types, and since then, another 60years of research has followed trying to disentangle the relationship between different personality traits and risk of CVD. We present metaanalyses summarizing research on personality traits and CVD risk up until 2009, examples of some of the recent individual studies conducted after this date, and critically discuss the evidence. Finally, public health implications of the evidence in this field are considered.