Personality and Heart Disease

Abstract
The personality characteristics of 4 groups of patients suffering from various types of heart disease were studied. The number of subjects in each group was as follows: hypertensive 25, rheumatic heart disease 25, coronary occlusion 8, arteriosclerosis 19. A 5th group consisting of 13 non-cardiac cases was also included. Personality data were secured by administering the scales devised by Guilford, and by Guilford and Martin. These yielded scores for 13 personality factors. An analysis of variance was performed on the scores of each group on each of the 13 personality factors. The results show no statistically significant differences among the 5 groups on the personality traits studied. All of the groups showed "personality factor patterns similar to those of the normative group and their scores, in general, are indicative of good mental health." The study, therefore, does not verify the relationship between personality and cardiac disorders posited by Dunbar.