Gender differences in mood and cardiovascular responses to socially stressful stimuli

Filmed vignettes of socially stressful situations elicit changes in emotional states and physiological activation. Several studies have reported changes in mood and physiological activity in African Americans who encountered laboratory analogs of stressful situations. However, none have examined gender differences. African-American college students (52 women and 40 men) viewed two versions of one of two social stressors. In one instance, the perpetrator of the stressful circumstances was Caucasian, while in the other, a Black perpetrator was viewed. Order of viewing was counterbalanced. The scenes depicted either an unjust arrest for shoplifting or an encounter with a rude and threatening highway patrolman. Analyses of variance determined that increases in blood pressure occurred as the stressful scenes were viewed, though no increases occurred in response to the neutral material. Women reported more tension, distress and fear during the stressors while the men evidenced more pronounced elevations in blood pressure. The findings encourage further study of the impact of social stress on physiological and emotional processes.