Hostility, emotional expression, and hemodynamic responses to laboratory stressors: reactivity attenuating effects of a tendency to express emotion interpersonally.

The present study examined the interactive effects of hostility and a predisposition towards emotional expression or suppression in interpersonal situations. We also attempted to partially replicate findings from a recent investigation which provided evidence of lower myocardial and greater vascular responses in high-hostile relative to low-hostile individuals. Undergraduate students (n=99) participated in a protocol consisting of rest periods, speech preparation and presentation, a social-evaluative mental arithmetic task, and a stress interview.