Gender and cardiovascular responses: What is the role of hostility?

Two experiments are reported investigating hostility group by gender effects on heart rate and blood pressure. In experiment 1, 58 males and 59 females were tested with a protocol that included baseline, reaction time with and without harassment, and recovery. In experiment 2, 55 males and 50 female...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychosomatic research 1993-09, Vol.37 (6), p.603-613
Main Authors: Lawler, Kathleen A., Harralson, Tina L., Armstead, Cheryl A., Schmied, Lori A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Biological and medical sciences
Blood Pressure - physiology
Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
Cardiovascular response
Factors
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender
Heart Rate - physiology
Hostility
Humans
Male
Personality traits
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sex Characteristics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Two experiments are reported investigating hostility group by gender effects on heart rate and blood pressure. In experiment 1, 58 males and 59 females were tested with a protocol that included baseline, reaction time with and without harassment, and recovery. In experiment 2, 55 males and 50 females participated in a procedure of baseline, Stroop color—word conflict, anger recall interview, and recovery. Based on Buss-Durkee subscales, genders were divided into high and low neurotic hostility and expressed hostility groups. High expressed hostility was associated with greater diastolic reactivity to all tasks in males, but not in females. Low expressed hostility was associated with greater heart rate and systolic reactivity, specifically during the anger recall interview. High neurotic hostility in males and females was associated with greater diastolic reactivity to the anger task only, while low Neurotic hostility males had higher resting systolic pressures. These results suggest that outward expression of hostility in men may increase their coronary heart disease risk; however, results for both men and women support an association between cardiovascular reactivity and a lack of match between self-reported anger management style and task demands.
ISSN:0022-3999
1879-1360
DOI:10.1016/0022-3999(93)90055-K