Research Interests
Dr. Weston is interested in the relationship between personality traits and health with the goal of understanding how personality can help medical professionals provide better care. Personality can be useful in designing targeted interventions and identifying at-risk patients. But before we can develop these tools, we need to understand the relationships between personality and health. What are the specific health behaviors and outcomes associated with personality? Under what conditions does personality predict health? How and why personality traits are related to health — with an emphasis on behavioral mechanisms — and contextualizing these relationships, such as by examining for whom personality traits are associated with health and when.
Selected publications:
Weston, S.J., & Jackson, J.J. (2018). The role of vigilance in the relationship between neuroticism and health: A registered report. Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 27-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2017.10.005Preprint. OSF. Preregistration.
Hill, P.L., & Weston, S.J. (2017). Evaluating eight-year trajectories for sense of purpose in the health and retirement study. Aging & Mental Health, 1-5. DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1399344
Weston, S.J., & Jackson, J.J. (2016). How do people respond to health news? The role of personality traits. Psychology & Health, 31(6), 637-654. DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2015.1119274Preprint.
Weston, S.J., Hill, P.L., & Jackson, J.J. (2015). Personality traits predict the onset of disease. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(3), 309-317. DOI: 10.1177/1948550614553248
Weston, S.J., & Jackson, J.J. (2015). Identification of the healthy neurotic: Personality traits predict smoking after disease onset. Journal of Research in Personality, 54, 61-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2014.04.008