Social support schemas, trait anger, and cardiovascular responses

This study examined the influence of activated support schemas on cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) during an anger-recall interview. Eighty Chinese female undergraduates wrote about a supportive tie or a casual acquaintance and subsequently disclosed an anger-provoking event while their heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured. Compared to participants in the 'acquaintance' condition, those in the 'support' condition showed lower HR, SBP and DBP reactivity, as well as smaller state anger increases and less negative appraisals of the recalled anger event. Reactivity increased as a function of trait anger. High trait anger individuals also had greater increases in state anger and more negative appraisals of the recalled event compared to their low trait anger counterparts. Support schema activation reduced the effects of trait anger on CVR such that high trait anger individuals in the 'support' condition had significantly lower CVR compared to high trait anger individuals in the 'acquaintance' condition. These findings suggest that social support schemas may have beneficial effects even in the absence of actual, enacted support.