THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAIT HOSTILITY AND CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY - A QUANTITATIVE REVIEW AND ANALYSIS

Results of a series of meta-analyses indicated that high and low scorers on most trait hostility measures do not consistently differ in blood pressure or heart rate reactivity to traditional laboratory stressors. The few significant effects were modest in size, and instances of hyporeactivity were found. When stressors were classified as provocative versus nonprovocative, in accord with Trait X Situation approaches, however, Potential for Hostility-Interpersonal Style was predictive of exaggerated systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses and the Cook-Medley Hostility Inventory was predictive of diastolic blood pressure responses to provocative stressors. Hence, the next generation of studies of the hostility-reactivity hypothesis should emphasize interpersonal stressors. Alternative mechanisms for the disease consequences of hostility should also be examined, however, because the available evidence indicates that the hyperreactivity hypothesis is unlikely to furnish a complete explanation for the association between hostility and heart disease.