Personality and Self-Efficacy: Influence on well-being and coping with health problems

Abstract

This investigation examined the role that personality and psychosocial factors play in relation to health outcomes (well-being, satisfaction and preventive behaviours), and coping with health problems. One hundred and seventy three participants completed measures of the Big Factors, Generalized Self-Efficacy (GSE) and Perceived Health Competence (PHC), along with health outcomes and coping. Results showed that traits were more connected to satisfaction, whereas GSE and PHC were linked most strongly with preventive behaviours and well-being, respectively. Furthermore traits accounted for a higher variance in instrumental and emotional coping, in comparison to GSE and PHC. Nevertheless PHC was the main predictor of these two kinds of coping. These findings suggest that the consideration of personality dimensions and psychosocial factors in tandem allows to clarify their predictive utility in the health domain.