Cardiovascular and electrodermal responses to support and provocation: Interpersonal methods in the study of psychophysiological reactivity

This study examined the joint and independent effects of experimentally man ipulated social contexts and individual differences in hostility and percei ved social support on physiological responses to a social stressor, while i llustrating the use of the interpersonal circumplex for integrative social psychophysiological research. Undergraduate women completed a speech task i n a supportive, neutral, or provoking context and completed measures of hos tility and perceived social support. The provoking context evoked the large st blood pressure and heart rate (HR) responses, followed by the neutral an d the supportive context. Social context also influenced HR and electroderm al reactivity during task preparation. Hostility elicited higher systolic b lood pressure (SBP) reactivity during preparation, speech, and recovery. Pe rceived social support interacted with context to affect SEP and HR during speech and preparation. The roles of interpersonal characteristics and cont exts in the physiological stress response and the utility of interpersonal methods in studying these associations are discussed.