Human and experimental animal research suggests that social stress in general--and chronic, effortful attempts to exert social control in particular--may contribute to cardiovascular disease. We examined the effects of exerting social influence or control on cardiovascular responses in married couples. Compared to husbands discussing a problem with their wives, husbands attempting to influence or persuade their wives displayed larger increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP) before and during the discussion. Furthermore, these physiological effects were accompanied by increases in anger and a more hostile and coldly assertive interpersonal style. Although wives who engaged in social influence attempts displayed generally similar behavior, they did not show the elevated SBP response or anger. We discuss the results in terms of the social context of cardiovascular reactivity and potential marital factors in cardiovascular health.

Chronically hostile persons may be at greater risk of cardiovascular illness, perhaps because of their more pronounced physiologic responses to interpersonal stressors. The present study of married couples examined the association between Cook and Medley Hostility (Ho) Scale scores and cardiovascular reactivity while couples were engaged in a discussion task with or without an incentive to exert control over their partner. Cynical hostility was associated with greater heart rate (HR) reactivity among husbands in both conditions and with greater systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity among husbands attempting to influence their wives. Further, husbands' cynical hostility was associated with greater SBP reactivity in their wives. Wives' cynical hostility was unrelated to their own or their husbands' reactivity. These results underscore the importance of social contexts in the association between hostility and psychophysiologic processes and suggest that the motive to exert social control may be important for hostile persons.

Cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) has been identified as a potential mechanism linking a variety of psychosocial processes to the development of cardiovascular disease. Although the effects of hostile and supportive social stimuli on CVR have been studied extensively, less is known about the effects of a second major dimension of social relations--dominance versus submissiveness. In the present study, 45 married couples participated in an interaction task involving the assertion of differing opinions. Subjects also provided ratings of their typical level of dominance versus submissiveness in relation to their spouse. Consistent with predictions derived from related conceptual models of psychological determinants of CVR, blood pressure reactivity was positively associated with perceptions of the spouse as dominant. At the highest level of perceived spouse dominance, CVR was attenuated, again consistent with prediction. Results are discussed in terms of the usefulness of conceptual models of interpersonal relations and motivation as guides in studying the social determinants of CVR, as well as the value of marital interactions as a context for understanding CVR.

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