NEUROTICISM AND SELF-REPORTED HEALTH IN AN ELDERLY COMMUNITY SAMPLE

Previous research has shown that self-reported health is correlated with the personality trait of neuroticism, but objective measures of health are not. However, much of this research involved narrow samples in which major health problems were uncommon. The present study was based on a survey of persons aged 70 or over who were living in the community. It was found that neuroticism correlated with some self-report measures of health, but not others. Correlations with neuroticism emerged when the self-report measures involved room for personal judgment. Correlations with objective measures were near zero. Correlations between neuroticism and self-reported health were much lower in men than in women. A small correlation was found between neuroticism and use of health services, but only for women. The results support the hypothesis that neuroticism is related to the perception of health rather than to objective health status.