D. Shapiro et al., EFFECTS OF CYNICAL HOSTILITY, ANGER OUT, ANXIETY, AND DEFENSIVENESS ON AMBULATORY BLOOD-PRESSURE IN BLACK-AND-WHITE COLLEGE-STUDENTS, Psychosomatic medicine, 58(4), 1996, pp. 354-364
This study asked whether individual differences in four personality tr
aits (cynical hostility, anger out, anxiety, and defensiveness) would
predict waking and sleeping ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate a
nd whether information about these traits would provide a source of ra
cial and gender differences in these measures. Ambulatory blood pressu
re and heart rate were recorded over a 24-hour period in 58 black and
86 white college students equally divided by gender. Waking and sleepi
ng values were examined as a function of gender, race, and personality
factors. Independent of personality factors, women had lower ambulato
ry blood pressure and higher heart rate than men, and black subjects h
ad higher blood pressure levels and less of a decrease in heart rate f
rom waking to sleeping than white subjects. The above differences were
associated with personality factors. Black subjects scoring high on c
ynical hostility had elevated daytime and nighttime systolic pressure.
Black subjects scoring high on both anxiety and defensiveness had hig
her waking diastolic blood pressure. Additional effects were shown for
heart rate as a function of anger out, anxiety, and defensiveness. Gi
ven the special significance of ambulatory blood pressure for cardiova
scular disease, these findings underscore the importance of personalit
y factors for cardiovascular risk and their relevance for race and gen
der differences in this risk.