SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY - EFFECTS OF INCENTIVE TO EXERT INFLUENCE AND EVALUATIVE THREAT

The effects on cardiovascular reactivity of incentive to influence the judgements of the experimenter and the threat of social evaluation we re examined in a sample of 60 male and 60 female undergraduates. Parti cipants either were guaranteed $5.00 to prepare and deliver a brief sp eech or were told that the money was contingent on an evaluation by th e experimenter. Participants believed that their speech would be rated for either simple clarity or verbal intelligence. The contingent ince ntive increased systolic blood pressure reactivity by 6.5 mmHg (32%). Evaluative threat increased systolic reactivity by 7.1 mmHg (36%). The se interpersonal processes could increase the risk of cardiovascular d isease and are likely to affect the degree of cardiovascular reactivit y in laboratory studies.