Hostilidad, patrón de conducta tipo A y reactividad cardíaca

Abstract

The present work summarizes the results of an investigation which examined the effect of self-reported hostility on the cardiac reactivity of Type A/B subjects. Forty male students belonging to four groups (1) Type A with high hostility, (2) Type A with low hostility, (3) Type B with high hostility and (4) Type B with low hostility, underwent three psychophysiological reaction tests: a Mental Arithmetic Task, a competitive videogame and a test of the cardiac defense response to high intense auditory stimulation. The dependent variable was heart rate. Results indicate that in the three tests no differences were observed in heart rate reactivity between Type A/B subjects with high selfreported hostility. Significant differences were observed between Type A/B subjects with low selfreported hostility, Type A subjects showing greater increases in heart rate during the habituation of the cardiac defense response and the competitive videogame. In the mental arithmetic task a similar tendency was observed without reaching statistical significance. The results are discussed in the context of recent research suggesting that denial or suppression of hostility (low self-reported hostility) in Type A subjects is associated with an increase in cardiovascular reactivity.