Title:
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Conscientiousness and daily stress : exploring the effects on cortisol and health outcomes
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Conscientiousness exerts a protective effect on health and longevity. Recent evidence
suggests that Conscientiousness may influence future health status via the experience of stress;
either directly through reduction of stress exposure, and/or indirectly by buffering the negative
effects of stress. Four empirical studies were conducted using multi-method approaches to
explore the relationships between Conscientiousness, daily stress, and health outcomes.
Daily diaries and multi-level modelling were employed to test the effects of daily stress
on physical symptoms and daily mood, and whether Conscientiousness moderated these effects.
Conscientiousness, and its facets, showed direct and indirect effects: Self Control was
associated with experiencing fewer, less intense daily hassles; Industriousness positively
predicted positive affect; Conscientiousness also moderated the relationship between appraisals
and positive affect, such that stressful appraisals predicted lower positive affect for the low
conscientious group on1y. These findings demonstrate multiple ways m which
Conscientiousness may affect the daily experience of stress, and the relationships between
stress and daily health outcomes.
Relationships between Conscientiousness, daily experience and cortisol were also
explored. Day-to-day changes in daily experience and cortisol were investigated, together with
the influence of Conscientiousness. Conscientiousness did not have a main effect on the
cortisol awakening response (CAR) or diurnal cortisol levels. However, appraisals negatively
predicted the next-day CAR, and thinking about the day's schedule in the morning positively
predicted the CAR. The latter effect was moderated by Conscientiousness, such that it was
significant only in the low Responsibility group. A lower CAR also predicted the experience of
more physical symptoms throughout the day. Therefore, daily experiences influenced cortisol
levels, but cortisol also influenced daily health outcomes, and Conscientiousness moderated
some of these effects.
This thesis supports the suggestion that daily stress is important in explaining, in
part, the relationship between Conscientiousness and health outcomes, and highlights
multiple pathways between these variables.
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