SOCIAL-DOMINANCE AND 22-YEAR ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN MEN

Objective: Research findings suggest that, in addition to hostility, s ocial dominance-related variables may be related to morbidity and mort ality. The purposes of the present study were to evaluate a) whether p ressured social dominance (defined as a pattern of structured-intervie w-defined characteristics of verbal competition, immediateness of resp onse, and fast speaking rate) was related to long-term health outcomes , namely, all-cause mortality, and b) whether individuals characterize d by other patterns of structured-interview-derived characteristics al so varied in terms of mortality. Method: The present study represents an analysis of the data from the 22-year mortality follow-up of 750 me n from the Western Collaborative Group Study. Cluster analytic techniq ues were used to classify individuals according to their speech and be havioral characteristics during a structured interview. Cox proportion al hazards models were used to test the association between the behavi oral characteristics and the risk of all-cause mortality. Results: The pattern of characteristics reflecting pressured social dominance was found to be positively related to mortality (RR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1 - 2.4, p <.02): this relation held after controlling for diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and smoking status at study entry, and a lso after controlling for hostility. In addition, the pattern of chara cteristics in which hostility was salient was found to be positively r elated to mortality (RR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.1 - 2.2, p <.02). Finally, a pattern of characteristics that suggests placid individuals who are n either hostile nor socially dominant was found to be significantly neg atively related to mortality (RR =.638, 95% CI =.419 -.974, p <.04). C onclusions: These results suggest that, in future research concerning psychosocial factors and long-term survival, attention should be given to social dominance as well as to hostility.