Final answer:
Catherine's negative personality traits, such as hostility and lack of self-confidence, are encouraged through the isolating and controlling aspects of her illness experience, as per literature and studies linking disease to psychological disposition.
Step-by-step explanation:
Catherine's negative personality traits are potentially exacerbated by her illness, as literature often explores the complex interplay between physical health and psychological disposition.
In the context of these excerpts, there is a theme in which illness fosters negative traits such as hostility, anxiety, confrontation, and a lack of self-confidence.
Frequent encounters with dismissive treatment, lack of social stimulation, and restrictive control by figures of authority, like a husband or a brother, contribute to a patient's diminished self-regard and introversion.
This can create a feedback loop, as Friedman and Booth-Kewley's study suggests, in which disease-prone personality characteristics like depression and hostility, worsen due to illness.
The restrictive environment and lack of empowerment, exemplified by a husband who undermines his wife's confidence and isolates her from stimulating company, can be seen in the writings of Austen and in the quoted studies.
Culture and personality play significant roles in shaping the illness experience. For instance, long-term diseases can shrink an individual's world, intensifying the focus on illness over other aspects of life.
A person's environment and relationships thus play a pivotal role in reinforcing or disputing their negative traits.
It is also indicated that illness in a cultural context, such as with AIDS or breast cancer, influences how individuals cope with and express illness-related personality changes.