Patterns of hostility and social support: Conceptualizing psychosocial risk factors as characteristics of the person and the environment

Although hostility and social support are closely related, these risk facto rs for cardiovascular disease and premature death are typically considered separately. Interpersonal approaches to personality and social relations (K iesler, 1996) provide models and methods for examining the interrelation of these constructs. The current study used the interpersonal approach to ide ntify and describe groups of individuals varying on hostility and social su pport. In two samples of undergraduate men and women, replicated cluster an alyses revealed three distinct patterns of psychosocial risk. An affiliativ e (i.e., "low-risk") group was characterized by low hostility and high soci al support. This group displayed a friendly interpersonal style on a measur e of the five-factor model that incorporates the interpersonal circumplex. On a related measure of parental representations, the low-risk group report ed pervasively affiliative interactions with their mothers and fathers as w ell as a secure adult attachment style. A hostile group was characterized b y higher levels of hostility and high social support. These individuals pre sented a more hostile interpersonal style and higher levels of neuroticism, but reported typically affiliative interactions with parents and a secure attachment style. Finally, a hostile-isolated group was distinguished by el evated hostility and low social support. These subjects displayed a hostile -submissive interpersonal style as well as higher levels of neuroticism. Th ey also reported more hostile and fewer friendly interactions with their pa rents and an insecure adult attachment style. These findings illustrate the potential value of examining naturally occurring patterns of psychosocial risk. Because the interpersonal approach allows the description of personal ity traits and interpersonal processes in a common conceptual language, it may be a particularly useful methodology in this regard. (C) 1999 Academic Press.