Personality and cancer
The relationship between personality traits and cancer has been a subject of inquiry for centuries, tracing back to ancient Greek classifications. While various psychological frameworks, such as those proposed by Hans Eysenck, have sought to categorize personality, research on the connection between personality and cancer risk remains inconclusive. Some studies suggest potential links between certain traits, such as neuroticism, and cancer outcomes, but many others fail to find significant associations. Factors such as lifestyle behaviors—like smoking, diet, and physical activity—are recognized as more critical predictors of cancer risk than personality traits. Additionally, mental health conditions, particularly chronic depression and stress, may play a role in an individual's cancer risk and survival rates. Leading health organizations emphasize the importance of lifestyle choices over personality factors in assessing cancer risk. While having a supportive community and maintaining a positive outlook may be beneficial in coping with cancer, further research is needed to clarify the extent of any links between personality and cancer prevalence or outcomes.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Personality and cancer
DEFINITION: The question whether certain personality traits make some people more prone to develop or die from diseases such as cancer dates back to the time of Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician.
Research: The ancient Greeks classified personality types based on humor: sanguine (blood: arrogant, impulsive), choleric (yellow bile: a leader, ambitious), melancholic (black bile: depressive, creative), and phlegmatic (phlegm: unemotional, rational). Twentieth-century psychologist Hans Eysenck categorized personality by examining four factors based on character traits: extroversion (social and lively), neuroticism (anxious and emotionally unstable), psychoticism (aggressive, cold, egocentric, and tough-minded), and “lie” (conforming, socially naïve, and dissimulating). Many other classification schemes exist. Multiple studies have looked at whether certain personality types or traits increase a person’s risk of developing or dying from cancer. Some studies reported an association between personality traits and the risk of developing cancer or dying from cancer, while others found no association. The topic remains one difficult to assess scientifically, and no clinical studies were available that showed a distinct link between a specific personality type and an increase or decrease in cancer prevalence.
Researcher Naoki Nakaya and his colleagues from Tohoku University in Japan reviewed some studies on personality and cancer and found limitations that make it impossible to come to any conclusions about their findings. For example, one study did not assess personality traits before the cancer diagnosis, making before-and-after comparisons impossible. Further studies by Nakaya and other scientists continued to yield mixed results. Studies of Japanese men and women and Swedish twins did not find an increased risk of developing or surviving cancer among people based on personality traits. However, Nakaya’s study in a large group of Danish cancer patients did find a strong association between neuroticism and rate of survival. In 2008, Eveline M. A. Bleiker of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and her colleagues published the results of a follow-up study of about 9,700 women with breast cancer. Although the original study, in 1996, had found a weak link between anti-emotionality, or a lack of emotional behavior, and a higher risk of developing breast cancer, their study thirteen years later found no connection between personality traits and an increased risk for breast cancer. Likewise, a 2010 longitudinal study of 60,000 people over thirty years, controlling for known risk factors, found no association between personality traits and cancer survival rates.
Linking personality traits to cancer risk is difficult because there are so many things that may be more closely related to a person’s cancer risk, such as stress, depression, or a person’s behaviors and decisions. For example, neuroticism can lead to distress and stress, which in turn can weaken the immune system and leave people vulnerable to illness. In addition, neuroticism has been linked to depression, and studies have found an association between depression and survival from certain types of cancers. Researchers from the National Institute on Aging studied a group of people over seventy-one years of age. They found an 88 percent higher risk of developing cancer in those who were chronically depressed (depressed for at least six years).
Risky behavior: The American Cancer Society takes the position that lifestyle and behavior are better predictors than personality in assessing people’s risk for developing or dying from cancer. The majority of cancer cases and deaths result from things people do, such as smoking or chewing tobacco, not exercising or not eating right, and not visiting the doctor regularly. The World Health Organization reported in 2023 that eight million people worldwide die prematurely from a smoking-related disease each year, and the mortality rate is rising. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in 2021 that at least 30 percent of cancer deaths and about 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in 2020 were related to smoking. In addition, in 2023, the American Cancer Society stated that 11 percent of cancers diagnosed in women and 5 percent of cancers diagnosed in men were linked to being overweight or obese. Neglecting personal health ranks high on the list of risky behaviors that can and will often lead to poorer outcomes after a cancer diagnosis. Early detection and treatment of cancer can save a person’s life. Screenings and guidelines are available for breast, cervix, colon, rectal, prostate, mouth, and skin cancers through the American Cancer Society.
Perspective and prospects: Research has not definitively established personality as a for cancer. The main risk factors remain behaviors and lifestyle issues (tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and obesity), along with environmental factors (carcinogens, infectious agents). Rather than an individual’s personality, that person’s mental state (chronic depression or stress) may be a better predictor of an individual’s risk of developing or surviving cancer. As the twenty-first century progressed, no scientific studies were able to find an association between distinct personality types and cancer. Having a positive attitude, finding faith and support in a specific community, and being the best individual one can be hold potential as powerful cancer preventatives and can bolster a person in their fight against cancer. However, scientifically, more study is needed on the topic.
Bibliography
Alwhaibi, Monira, et al. "The Impact of Depression and Anxiety on Adult Cancer Patients’ Health-Related Quality of Life." Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 12, no. 6, 2023, doi.org/10.3390/jcm12062196. Accessed 24 June 2024.
Bleiker, E. M., et al. “Personality Factors and Breast Cancer Risk: A Thirteen Year Follow-Up.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol. 100.3, 2008, pp. 213–18.
“Body Weight and Cancer Risk - Obesity Effect on Cancer Risk.” American Cancer Society, 15 Dec. 2023, www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/diet-physical-activity/body-weight-and-cancer-risk.html. Accessed 24 June 2024.
Dalton, Susanne Oksbjerg, et al. “Depression and Cancer Risk: A Register Based Study of Patients Hospitalized with Affective Disorders, Denmark, 1969-1993.” American Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 115.12, 2002, pp. 1088–95.
“Depression (PDQ®).” National Cancer Institute, 14 Feb. 2024, www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/coping/feelings/depression-hp-pdq. Accessed 24 June 2024.
“Does Having a Certain Personality Type Affect Cancer Risk?” Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 4 Jan. 2017, blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2017/01/does-having-a-certain-personality-type-affect-cancer-risk. Accessed 24 June 2024.
“Effect of Attitudes and Feelings on Cancer.” American Cancer Society, 28 Mar. 2023, www.cancer.org/cancer/survivorship/coping/attitudes-and-feelings-about-cancer.html. Accessed 24 June 2024.
“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking.” CDC, 29 Oct. 2021, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data‗statistics/fact‗sheets/health‗effects/effects‗cig‗smoking/index.htm. Accessed 24 June 2024.
Mössinger, Hannah, and Karel Kostev. "Depression Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Subsequent Cancer Diagnosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study with 235,404 Patients." Brain Sciences, vol. 13, no. 2, 2023, doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13020302. Accessed 24 June 2024.
Nakaya, Naoki, Pernille E. Hanson, et al. “Personality Traits and Cancer Survival: A Danish Cohort Study.” British Journal of Cancer, vol. 95, 2006, pp. 146–52.
Nakaya, Naoki, Yoshitaka Tsubono, et al. “Personality and Risk of Cancer.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol. 95, 2003, pp. 799–805.
“Tobacco.” World Health Organization (WHO), 31 July 2023, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco. Accessed 24 June 2024.