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Power motivation, stress and physical illness
Journal of Human Stress
|December 1, 1980
Summary
College students experiencing numerous life changes reported more physical illness and emotional distress. Specific stress types and individual differences, like high need for power, significantly influenced illness severity, suggesting underlying physiological mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychophysiology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Life change events are associated with negative health outcomes.
- Individual differences and stressor types may modulate this relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how different types of life change events and individual psychological differences influence physical illness and affective symptoms in college students.
- To explore the moderating roles of stressor type (power, affiliative, other) and individual traits (need for power, inhibition) on the relationship between life changes and health.
Main Methods:
- College students reported life change events, physical illness, and affective symptoms.
- Life change events were categorized by stress type (power, affiliative, other).
- Individual differences in need for power and inhibition were assessed.
Main Results:
- High life change events correlated with increased physical illness and affective symptoms.
- Individuals high in need for power, inhibition, and power stress (HHH) reported more severe outcomes.
- Affiliative stress interacted with inhibition and need for affiliation to predict physical illness.
Conclusions:
- The findings support a psychophysiological model where chronic sympathetic activity in certain individuals (HHH) may lead to immunosuppression and increased illness proneness.
- Specific patterns of life stress and individual differences significantly impact health outcomes in college students.