The importance of examining blood pressure reactivity and recovery in anger provocation research

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the moderating relationship of hostility on emotional and physiological arousal due to acute anger provocation; stress reactivity and recovery were measured.

Method: Forty-five participants completed a measure of trait hostility (CMHQ) and performed a mental arithmetic (serial 7s) task while receiving scripted comments at set intervals designed to provoke anger (harassment). The impact of trait hostility (high, medium or low) on arousal and recovery was examined.

Results: Participants low in self-reported hostility showed greater HR reactivity to the task but recovered quickly. Participants high in hostility showed noticeably slower recovery in SBP maintained after task completion.

Conclusions: The findings underscore the importance of examining both reactivity and recovery data in anger provocation research because the apparent influence of trait hostility on cardiovascular functioning would have been missed if recovery had not been systematically studied.