Hostility and cardiovascular reactivity in women during self-disclosure

Hostility has been inconsistently related to cardiovascular reactivity in s tudies of women. In this study we examined hostility in college-age women i n relation to cardiovascular reactivity and mood during self-disclosure of a distressing event to an unknown man. Women in the self-disclosure conditi on had greater systolic blood pressure, anxiety, and depressed mood than pa rticipants in the nondisclosure condition independent of their level of hos tility. Hostile women in the self-disclosure condition reported greater ang er postexperiment than women in the other three groups, and anger was relat ed to diastolic blood pressure. Anxiety and depressed mood were related to systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure for low hostile women in the self-disclosure condition. Results suggest an interrelation of hosti lity with negative mood and reactivity that requires further study.