SELF-ESTEEM STABILITY, CYNICAL HOSTILITY, AND CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY TO CHALLENGE

This study investigated the contribution of unstable self-esteem as a predictor of cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) during a challenging and ego-threatening task. A sample of male and female adults monitored sel f-esteem perceptions multiple times daily to provide self-esteem stabi lity scores. Participants also engaged in a competitive task that invo lved the rapid mental calculation of complex addition/subtraction prob lems. The task was made more stressful through a manipulation in which participants were made aware that their performance was being monitor ed and evaluated. Self-esteem stability scores and cynicism scores wer e used as predictors of systolic and diastolic blood pressure increase s and heart rate increases. Results obtained through multiple regressi on analyses revealed that for men, but not for women, self-esteem inst ability, relative to cynicism, was a better predictor of increases in systolic blood pressure and heart rate. Neither of these predictors ac counted for reactivity in our sample of women, despite the fact that w omen displayed near equivalent levels of reactivity and equivalent deg rees of self-esteem instability. Results suggest that, for men, self-e steem instability may play an important role in the prediction of card iovascular reactivity to threat that is more dramatic than the contrib ution of cynicism. Results are also discussed relative to the observed gender differences. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.