Watson 1989 - Health complaints, stress, and distress - exploring the central role of negative affectivity

Google Scholar Link

Watson, D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Health complaints, stress, and distress: exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychological review, 96(2), 234.

Summary

This paper examines the relationship between negative affectivity and health. Negative affectivity, a “general dimension of subjective distress,” can be both a state (“transient fluctuations in mood”) and a trait. Individuals high in trait negative affectivity generally focus on the negative aspects of themselves, others, and the world in general. They have lower levels of life satisfaction and decreased views of self. Experimental statistics show that negative affect and positive affect are different constructs, not merely bipolar. This point was also made in Scheier 1985. Trait negative affectivity (NA) correlates with somatic symptom reporting, while – curiously – trait positive affectivity (PA) does not. Another curious finding is that, while trait NA correlates with health complaints (subjective health), “it is not strongly or consistently related to actual, long-term health status” (objective health).

“They complain of angina but show no evidence of greater coronary risk or pathology. They complain of headaches but do not report any increased use of aspirin. They report all kinds of physical problems but are not especially likely to visit their doctor or to miss work or school. In general, they complain about their health but show no hard evidence of poorer health or increased mortality.”

Experimental findings suggest that high NA probably does not cause health problems (referred to as the psychosomatic hypothesis). The disability hypothesis, which “proposes that health problems cause distress and dissatisfaction,” also seems to be unlikely, based on experimental findings. The authors present the symptom perception hypothesis, which says that “individuals differ in how they perceive, respond to, and/or complain about body sensations.” The authors argue that psychosomatic elements need to be accounted for in health psychology research.

Application

Negative affect and positive affect need to be considered independently. If research uses a negative affect measure, it should also use a positive affect measure.