ence is available in relation to psychoneuroimmunology (the interaction between psychological and immune variables). Wolf, Cole and Coyne (1996), undertook a statistical investigation to look at clustered psychological, health and immune variables using canonical correlation techniques. Canonical correlation is a multi-variant correlation technique for relating two separate domains where multiple measures exist within each domain. The results indicated that it was possible to identify specific indices of human stress response which correlate with specific and non-specific components of immune response. Wolf et als. (1996) concluded that in the case of the non-specific (inflammatory) immune component: "there was a statistically significant correlation between psychologic indices of stress and non-specific immune functions" (p. 9). Loneliness and helplessness represent a stressful condition that can be correlated with a non-specific immune response (Wolf et als, 1996).Younger, more obsessive-compulsive and more exercising individuals raise the possibility of increased tissue macrophage and mast cell activity. They were intrigued to note that: "suppressed hostility (obsessive-compulsive) is associated with enhanced cellular immunity while overt hostility is associated with enhanced humoral immunity" (Wolf et. als., 1996, p. 11). This study is impressive in its findings as the association between psychology, immune variables and health outcomes is deemed to be significant, and not the result of chance (p less than .038, to p less than .006) (Wolf et als., 1996). Strong relationships seem to exist between an individual's disease patterns and their personality type, and may negatively influence the health of that person. Eysenck suggests that various types of personalities are predisposed to particular illnesses. His is a biological based theory, which takes into consideration, and allows for, social influences (Wade and Tavris, 1993). As d...
