Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 55, Issue 2 193-202, Copyright © 1993 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Cynical hostility and cardiovascular reactivity during self-disclosure

AJ Christensen and TW Smith
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112.

Recent research suggests that hostility might contribute to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) and other illnesses. One potential mechanism linking hostility and health is exaggerated physiological reactivity to social stressors. Given that mistrust and suspiciousness are closely related to this trait, the self-disclosure of personal information regarding a stressful experience may elicit heightened reactivity in hostile persons. To evaluate this hypothesis, undergraduate men (N = 60) classified as high or low on the Cook and Medley Hostility (Ho) Scale were randomly assigned to either a self-disclosure or a nondisclosure condition. Consistent with prediction, among subjects participating in the self-disclosure discussion task, hostile individuals displayed significantly greater blood pressure reactivity compared with subjects low in hostility. These results support the psychophysiological reactivity model of hostility and health, and underscore the potential importance of social context in the psychosomatic process.

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