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Hostility and cardiovascular reactivity during marital interaction.

T W Smith1, L C Gallo

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112-0251, USA. tsmith@psych.utah.edu

Psychosomatic Medicine
|August 12, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Hostile men exhibit increased blood pressure during marital conflict, particularly under high threat. This suggests a psychophysiological link between hostility and cardiovascular health, with notable sex differences observed.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychophysiology
  • Social Psychology
  • Cardiovascular Health

Background:

  • Hostile individuals display exaggerated cardiovascular responses to social stressors.
  • Understanding these responses during interpersonal conflict is crucial for health research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how individual hostility and social stressors affect cardiovascular reactivity during couple interactions.
  • To explore potential sex differences in these psychophysiological responses.

Main Methods:

  • Sixty couples engaged in a discussion task with varying threat levels and agreement/disagreement dynamics.
  • Hostility was measured using the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire.
  • Cardiovascular measures (blood pressure, heart rate) and behavioral appraisals were recorded.

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Main Results:

  • Hostile husbands showed increased systolic blood pressure reactivity under high threat, possibly linked to dominance assertion.
  • Wives' hostility was not directly associated with cardiovascular reactivity.
  • Wives in conflict with hostile husbands exhibited elevated heart rate reactivity.

Conclusions:

  • Heightened cardiovascular reactivity in hostile men during marital stress supports a psychophysiological link between hostility and health.
  • Observed sex differences indicate distinct social psychophysiology of hostility in men and women.
  • Interpersonal dynamics are important for studying psychosocial risk factors.