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 score rs on most trait hostility measures do not consistently differ in bloo d pressure or heart rate reactivity to traditional laboratory stressor s. The few significant effects were modest in size, and instances of h yporeactivity were found. When stressors were classified as provocativ e 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 C ook-Medley Hostility Inventory was predictive of diastolic blood press ure responses to provocative stressors. Hence, the next generation of studies of the hostility-reactivity hypothesis should emphasize interp ersonal 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 a nd heart disease.