Though associations between personality and health have been previously observed, less is known about why such relationships exist. The present study examines whether social support mediated the relationship between personality traits and health among African Americans. We hypothesized that social support would help explain the relationship between each of the five-factor model traits and physical functioning. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 803 African American adults using a telephone survey including measures of the five-factor model personality traits, social support, and physical functioning. Results of mediational analyses suggested that higher openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, and lower neuroticism predicted higher social support. Higher openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and lower neuroticism, but not agreeableness, predicted higher physical functioning. The relationships between physical functioning and personality traits were at least partially mediated by social support. This study reinforces the importance of identifying the mechanisms underlying the personality-health relationship. This information may be useful to community members and health care providers in developing prevention and treatment strategies for African Americans.

中文翻译：

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在非裔美国人的全国样本中解释人格与健康之间的关系：社会支持的中介作用

尽管先前已经观察到人格与健康之间的关联，但人们对这种关系为何存在的了解却很少。本研究调查了社会支持是否在非裔美国人的人格特征与健康之间的关系中起中介作用。我们假设社会支持将有助于解释每个五因素模型特征与身体机能之间的关系。数据是使用电话调查从 803 名非裔美国成年人的全国概率样本中收集的，包括对五因素模型人格特征、社会支持和身体机能的测量。中介分析的结果表明，对经验的高度开放、尽责性、外向性和宜人性以及较低的神经质预示着较高的社会支持。更高的开放性，尽责性，外向性和较低的神经质，但不是宜人性，预示着较高的身体机能。身体机能和人格特征之间的关系至少部分是由社会支持调节的。这项研究强调了确定人格与健康关系背后机制的重要性。这些信息可能有助于社区成员和医疗保健提供者为非裔美国人制定预防和治疗策略。