Situational, Dispositional, and Genetic Bases of Symptom Reporting

Abstract

Self-report health measures are widely used in health psychology research, but they are as yet poorly understood. In this chapter, we argue that physical symptom reporting—in addition to reflecting the respondent's current physiological state—is affected by numerous psychological factors. We summarize extensive evidence demonstrating that phasic situational factors, enduring dispositions of personality and temperament, and genetic determinants all influence symptom reporting. Whereas our earlier work focused on how perceptual and cognitive factors influence the reporting of internal states, more recent research strongly implicates the pervasive personality trait of negative affectivity (NA) as a central determinant in the reporting of physical symptoms, stress, subjective distress, and psychopathology. Further, recent NA research suggests that trait NA—and, by extension, the proclivity to perceive and report symptoms—is highly heritable. After discussing the situational, dispositional, and genetic bases of symptom reporting, we raise several questions about the nature of self-reports in the area of health psychology.