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　　你是否对他人持敌意或者抱着放松的心情、感到压抑或是喜欢社交？你的性格将对你的健康状况产生重大影响。

　　你的性格是否会使你送命-或者它可以延长你的生命？它是否会使你患心脏病或者保护你不患心脏病？它是否将增加或者减少你生病的机遇？心理学家称，性格特点在确定我们的健康程度时起到了一个非常明显的作用。《哈佛精神健康学报》的主编米歇尔-米勒称：“所有的事情都是互相联系的。你是感到受压抑或者愤怒，你如何与世界互动在很大程度上是由你的个性所决定的。它将对你的健康产生重大影响。”

　　以下是常见的个性类型和特点和它将如何帮助或者有损你的健康(有时候是双向的)

　　敌意

　　急躁、性格坚韧的A型性格人群的一个可增加患心脏病机率的特征是敌意。杜克大学医疗中心行为医疗主任雷德福-威廉斯称，与其它性格的人相比，抱有敌意的人吃得多，吸烟吸得多，但锻炼得比较少。

　　冲动

　　由于A型性格人群的特点是竞争性、追求成功、紧迫感，他们倾向于冒风险，在不思考的情况下就采取行动。这两点都不太可能有助于改善健康。非A型性格的人群也可能具有冲动性。

　　放松型

　　如果你是B型性格人群，那你逆来顺受。你是放松的，把每一天都当作是生命中不可缺少的一段来看待，能应对压力。这意味着将享受更高质量的生命，降低患心脏疾病的风险。焦虑感减少可以强化免疫系统。

　　外向型

　　那些性格活泼、积极参与社区事务、有着众多社会联系的人士将收获许多健康方面的益处。

　　How Your Personality Affects Your Health

　　Are you hostile or relaxed, stressed or social? Your traits play an important role in your well-being

　　By Angela Haupt

　　Click here to find out more!

　　Here's a look at common personality types and traits and how each can help or hurt your health (sometimes both)：

　　Hostile

　　One of the aspects of the impatient, hard-charging Type A personality that is known to increase heart disease risk is hostility. Hostile people eat and smoke more and exercise less than other personality types, says Redford Williams, head of behavioral medicine at Duke University Medical Center and author of Anger Kills. They're likelier to be overweight in middle age and have higher cholesterol and blood pressure. Williams's past research suggests hostile people are also more likely to develop irregular heart rhythms, and to die before reaching their 50s. Most of these problems can be traced back to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as increased inflammation in the walls of the coronary arteries, which leads to a greater risk of heart attack。

　　No personality is set in stone, however, and Type A's can be taught how to take the edge off their hostility. Hostile heart patients who attend workshops that teach coping skills, for instance, have a lower incidence of depression and healthier blood pressure than Type A's who don't go. The key, Williams says, is learning how to communicate more clearly and how to control anger and other negative emotions. He suggests asking yourself four questions when you get angry: Is this issue truly important? Is what I'm feeling appropriate to the facts? Can I modify the situation in a positive way? Is taking such action worth it? Meditation, deep breathing, and yoga can damp hostility with a layer of calm。

　　Impulsive

　　Because Type A personalities are defined by competitiveness, a drive to succeed, and a sense of urgency, they are prone to take risks and act without thinking, neither of which is likely to improve health. Non-Type A's can be impulsive, too. Such people are often not as well-grounded as others, says Robin Belamaric, a clinical psychologist in Bethesda, Md.: "They'll look at an opportunity that comes along and say, 'Hmm, that sounds like fun,' whereas another, more thoughtful person, will say, 'I'm going to pass, because I'm not sure it's the best idea.' "

　　Relaxed

　　If you're a Type B, you roll with the punches. You're relaxed, take life a day a time, and handle stress without cracking. That translates to a higher quality of life and lower likelihood of heart disease—less anxiety strengthens the immune system. The more we chill, the better off we are, says Miller: "You don't want to get locked into a stressful, tense state of mind." Over the long term, he adds, relaxing and managing stress effectively will lengthen your life, help your heart and gastrointestinal system, and just make you feel better overall。

　　Extrovert

　　People who are outgoing, involved in their communities, and have strong social connections reap health benefits. An analysis of 148 studies published in the online journal PLoS medicine in July found that on average, adults enrolled in a study with many close friendships were 50 percent likelier to survive until their study ended than were those with few friendships. And a 2009 study published in Perspectives in Psychological Science suggests that social support leads to improved coping skills, healthy behavior, and adherence to medical regimens. Bonding with others also reduces stress and improves the immune system—so making friends and getting involved becomes, in effect, a well-being tonic。

　　What drives at least some of the health benefits goes beyond biology, Miller says. "It may have to do with the fact that when you're around people, you think, 'Oh, Martha has gone for her mammogram—that reminds me, I should, too.' "

　　Eager to please

　　People-pleasers—Type C's—are conforming, passive, and want to accommodate. That can be a good thing when it comes to patient compliance: They're more likely to take the right medicines in the right doses at the right times, for instance—once they see a doctor, that is. Making and following through on appointments can be challenging for Type C's, who tend to accept their fate as inevitable and fall readily into hopelessness and helplessness. That means others must push them to take care of themselves. "They may be less likely to maintain their health on their own," Belamaric says. "If they develop a problem, they may just complain about it, hoping somebody says, 'I have a good doctor, I'll make you an appointment.' "

　　Some Type C's may be so mired that they don't seek medical attention—even when it's clearly necessary—and slough off preventive behaviors, like watching what they eat. "If they get a serious diagnosis, they may be passive, throw their hands up, and say, 'Well, there's nothing I can do about it, anyway. If it's my time, it's my time,' " Belamaric says。

　　Stressed and distressed

　　Type D's—D is for distressed—dwell on negative emotions and are afraid to express themselves in social situations. Compared to more optimistic sorts, a Type D may face three times the risk for future heart problems, according to a recent study in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. Type D's also face a higher likelihood of compulsive overeating and substance abuse. "If you're a person who is prone to depression or anxiety, or if you're overly self-critical, there's more of a chance of turning to gratifying behavior to feel better," Miller says。

　　Optimistic versus pessimistic

　　Optimism "heavily influences physical and mental health," concluded a study published in May in the journal Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health after researchers followed more than 500 males for 15 years. The rate of heart-related deaths was 50 percent lower among optimists than among pessimists. "Optimists have a higher quality of life, and they may be more resilient in the way they deal with stress," Miller says. "So if a problem comes along, they're able to handle it better, and they become less symptomatic." Glass-half-empty types harbor little hope for the future and tend more toward depression and anxiety disorders。

　　But there's a catch for those at the extreme end of the optimism spectrum: They think of themselves as impervious to risks. Extreme optimists who smoke are the best examples. They believe they won't develop lung cancer. Why give up smoking to prevent a nonexistent risk?

　　The "self-healing personality"

　　That is the name Howard Friedman, a professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside, attaches to people who are curious, secure, constructive, responsive, and conscientious. These traits translate to enthusiasm for life, emotional balance, and strong social relationships. "Positive emotions buffer hormonal responses to stress," says Friedman, who studies the relationship between personality and longevity. Self-healers, he says, "have healthier behavior patterns: more physical activity, a better diet, and less smoking and substance abuse."

　　(美国新闻与世界报道)

　　(解雨)