Comparison of subjective health between personality prototypes extracted from general population of Mexico

• Main Authors: Pedro Solís-Cámara, Rosa Martha Meda Lara, Bernardo Moreno Jiménez, Andrés Palomera Chávez, Pedro Juárez Rodríguez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Católica de Colombia
• Series: Acta Colombiana de Psicología
• Subjects: Self disciplined; non-resilient; personality; prototypes; resilient; health
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0123-91552017000200214&lng=en&tlng=en

Abstract The objective of this study was to extract personality prototypes from general population of Mexico and to compare subjective health indicators between these prototypes. Participants were 994 individuals (aged 14 to 63 years). Five personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness) were assessed with the NEO-FFI. Subjective indicators of health (self-rated health and psychological distress) were assessed with a question regarding health status and the GHQ-12. To verify the consistency of the prototypes, the sample was divided into two age groups, young (14 to 25 years) and mature (26 to 63 years.). Three stable prototypes were recovered from both groups. Resilient individuals (low neuroticism and high in other traits) had the best subjective health; the Non-Resilient individuals (high neuroticism and low in other traits) had the worst subjective health; and Self-Disciplined individuals (high conscientiousness and medium scores in other traits) were in the middle of these extremes in subjective health. Self-discipline and resilience were most discriminative in terms of subjective health. Findings are discussed in terms of the generalization of prototypes across cultures.