Construct validation of health-relevant personality traits: Interpersonal circumplex and five-factor model analyses of the aggression questionnaire

Relationship mindfulness, negative relationship quality, and physical health

Romantic relationships have the potential to be a great source of support or a significant stressor depending on the quality of the relationship. Given the importance of these relationships, it is important to explore possible predictors of relationship quality, primarily if such predictors can be targeted in a clinical setting. Relationship mindfulness, or the propensity to be mindful in the setting of a romantic relationship, is one such option. The current study explored the associations between relationship mindfulness, negative relationship quality, and physical health. An online assessment was completed by 116 middle-aged different-sex couples that measured the variables of interest. In addition, an Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model was utilized to determine significant associations between relationship mindfulness, negative relationship quality, and physical health for both actors and partners. The clinical implications are that relationship mindfulness may help to decrease negative relationship quality and subsequently benefit individual physical health.

Personality Traits and Family Environment: Antecedents of Child Aggression

Previous research reported significant relationship between Big Five personality traits and aggression in both adolescent’s and adult population. However, it is unclear about whether similar connection exist in early age. This study investigated how personality traits and family environment influence the development of aggression in school aged Saudi children. A sample of 315 school going children were recruited voluntarily to complete a set of measures examining Big Five personality factors, family environment and aggression. Correlation analysis were employed to evaluate association between Big Five personality traits, family environment and aggression. The results showed a significant relationship of Big Five personality factors and family environment factors to aggression. The findings of the study revealed that amongst the Big Five personality traits conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism were strongest antecedents of childhood aggression. Family environment characterized by family cohesion, expressiveness and conflict were appeared to be significant antecedents of aggressive behavior in children. This study expands our knowledge about the intervention strategies of aggression from Big Five traits and family environment perspectives.

Two Routes to Status, One Route to Health: Trait Dominance and Prestige Differentially Associate with Self-reported Stress and Health in Two US University Populations

Objective

Social status has been extensively linked to stress and health outcomes. However, two routes by which status can be earned – dominance and prestige – may not uniformly relate to lower stress and better health because of inherent behavioral and stress-exposure differences in these two routes.

Methods

In one exploratory and two preregistered studies, participants (total N = 978) self-reported their trait dominance and prestige and self-reported several stress and health outcomes.

Results

The meta-effects evident across the three studies indicate that higher trait dominance was associated with worse outcomes – higher stress, poorer physical and mental health, poorer behavioral health, poorer life satisfaction, higher negative affect (range of absolute values of non-zero correlations, |r| = [0.074, 0.315], ps < 0.021) – and higher trait prestige was associated with better outcomes – lower stress, better physical and mental health, better behavioral health, better life satisfaction, higher positive and lower negative mood (|r| = [0.134, 0.478], ps < 0.001). These effects remained evident (with few exceptions) after controlling for socioeconomic status, other status-relevant traits, or self-enhancing motives; associations with behavior relevant to the COVID19 pandemic generally were not robust.

Conclusions

This work indicates that evolved traits related to the preferred route by which status is earned likely impact self-reported stress and health outcomes. Future research is necessary to examine physiological and other objective indicators of stress and health in more diverse populations.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40750-022-00199-3.

How the Big Five personality traits related to aggression from perspectives of the benign and malicious envy

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have indicated the link between the Big Five personality traits and aggression. Based on the general aggression model, the purpose of this study is to reveal the formation mechanism of aggression from the people's internal emotional perspective. Envy is a typical negative emotion that can be divided into benign/malicious envy. Therefore, we aim to explore the intrinsic role of benign/malicious envy within the Big Five personality traits in its connection to aggression.

METHODS

We recruited 839 participants [229 men (27.29%) and 610 women (72.71%); mean age ± SD = 19.45 ± 2.39] who we tested with the NEO Personality Inventory, the Benign and Malicious Envy Scale, and the Aggression Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The results of suggested that neuroticism was significantly and positively associated with aggression, while agreeableness was negatively related to aggression. Moreover, mediation analysis revealed that malicious envy works both in the relationship of neuroticism-aggression and agreeableness-aggression.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study advanced knowledge of the general aggression model. Most importantly, it reveals that malicious envy, as a type of envy, plays an important mediating role between neuroticism, agreeableness and aggression. Meanwhile, the cross-gender path analysis supports the stability of the mediating role of malicious envy. This finding provides new insights into the intervention of aggression from the perspective of envy.

Explicit and Implicit Self-esteem and Aggression: Differential Effects of Agency and Communion

Previous work has shown that self-esteem is related to aggression and violence. However, self-esteem is a multidimensional construct, and so we isolated self-esteem related to agency (e.g., competence and assertiveness) and self-esteem related to communion (e.g., warmth and morality) using both explicit and implicit techniques and examined their relationship to two forms of aggression (proactive and reactive aggression) in two samples. In an undergraduate sample (N = 130), high levels of explicit agency were associated with increased aggression but only for those with low implicit agency. On the other hand, high levels of either explicit or implicit communion showed reduced proactive aggression, while high levels of explicit communion were also associated with low levels of reactive aggression. In a community sample of people with problems due to homelessness (N = 101), we found that high levels of explicit communion were also associated with lower levels of both forms of aggression. The results show that different aspects of self-esteem, namely agency and communion, have quite different relationships to aggression and that implicit measures of these self-evaluations are also important constructs in the prediction of aggression. Implicit measures of self-esteem could be used by clinicians to understand the motivations behind an individual's aggression and its management.

Balancing typological and dimensional approaches: Assessment of adult attachment styles with Factor Mixture Analysis

Many studies show the importance of adult attachment styles and their impact on social and emotional adaptation in adulthood. However, there is no agreement about whether attachment should be regarded as typological or dimensional, and some authors have proposed reconciling both options, so that adult attachment styles can be assessed more accurately and realistically. In this study we have adopted this comprehensive view and used Factor Mixture Analysis, the most appropriate model for assessing this mixture view. More specifically, we attempted to determine the nature and types (if any) of attachment styles that can be assessed with the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (CAA), using this mixture view. A total of 515 adults from Spain took part, with ages between 18 and 56 years old. In addition to the CAA questionnaire, they completed the Parental Bonding Instrument and the emotional stability subscale of the Overall Personality Assessment Scale. On the basis of the CAA scores, the results show that only two profiles-insecure attachment and normal-range-can be univocally differentiated. Furthermore, the results of a full multiple-group structural model show that each of these profiles has a different pattern of validity relations with the external variables maternal care, maternal overprotection and emotional stability. These differential validity results reinforce the general hypothesis that two differentiated clusters of individuals can be distinguished on the basis of the responses to the CAA items.

Self-injurious behavior among Greek male prisoners: Prevalence and risk factors

Background

Self-harm among prisoners is a common phenomenon. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of self-injurious behavior (SIB) among Greek male prisoners, record their motives and determine independent risk factors.

Methods

A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was administered to 173 male prisoners in the Chalkida prison, Greece. The questionnaire included items on self-harm/SIB, demographic parameters, childhood history, family history, physical and mental disease, lifestyle and smoking habits, alcohol dependence (CAGE questionnaire), illicit substance use, aggression (Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire [BPAQ] and Lifetime History of Aggression [LTHA]), impulsivity (Barrat Impulsivity Scale-11) and suicidal ideation (Spectrum of Suicidal Behavior Scale). Univariate nonparametric statistics and multivariate ordinal logistic regression were performed.

Results

Of all the participants, 49.4% (95% CI: 41.5–57.3%) disclosed self-harm (direct or indirect). The prevalence of SIB was equal to 34.8% (95% CI: 27.5–42.6%). Most frequently, SIB coexisted with indirect self-harm (80.7%). The most common underlying motives were to obtain emotional release (31.6%) and to release anger (21.1%). At the univariate analysis, SIB was positively associated with a host of closely related factors: low education, physical/sexual abuse in childhood, parental neglect, parental divorce, alcoholism in family, psychiatric condition in family, recidivism, age, sentence already served, impulsivity, aggression, alcohol dependence, self-reported diagnosed psychiatric condition and illicit substance use. Childhood variables were particularly associated with the presence of diagnosed psychiatric condition. At the multivariate analysis, however, only three parameters were proven independent risk factors: self-reported diagnosed psychiatric condition, illicit substance use and aggression (BPAQ scale).

Conclusion

The prevalence of SIB is particularly high. Psychiatric condition, illicit substance use and aggression seem to be the most meaningful risk factors; childhood events seem only to act indirectly.

Mortality Risk Associated With Personality Facets of the Big Five and Interpersonal Circumplex Across Three Aging Cohorts

OBJECTIVE

To address the common reliance on the global Big Five domains in the personality and longevity literature, the present study examined mortality risk associated with subdimensions of Big Five domains as well as specific traits within the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) model of personality.

METHODS

Data were drawn from three major longitudinal studies of aging that administered the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, a comprehensive measure of the Big Five, and comprised a total of 4223 participants. Item Response Theory models were used to generate latent trait scores for each of the 30 Big Five facets and eight scales from the IPC. Pooled mortality risk estimates were obtained from demographic-adjusted Cox regression models within each study.

RESULTS

With a high degree of consistency, the vulnerability facet of neuroticism was associated with higher mortality risk and the activity facet of extraversion, with lower risk. None of the openness or agreeableness facets were associated with mortality, although the IPC scales submissiveness and hostile submissiveness were linked with elevated risk. All but one of the facets in the conscientiousness domain were robustly and consistently associated with lower mortality risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that specific facets of neuroticism and extraversion carry greater or lesser mortality risk. Broad composite scales averaging across all facets mask important personality risk factors. In contrast, nearly all facets within the conscientiousness domain confer protection against mortality. Finally, the IPC model may capture more nuanced interpersonal risk factors than the facets of Big Five agreeableness or extraversion. Understanding of the role of personality in longevity requires a more precise approach to conceptualization and measurement than broad, composite constructs usually provide.

Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry: An Interpersonal Approach to Construct Validation

The present study applied the interpersonal perspective in testing the narcissistic admiration and rivalry concept (NARC) and examining the construct validity of the corresponding Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (NARQ). Two undergraduate samples (Sample 1: N = 290; Sample 2: N = 188) completed self-report measures of interpersonal processes based in the interpersonal circumplex (IPC), as well as measures of related constructs. In examining IPC correlates, the authors used a novel bootstrapping approach to determine if admiration and rivalry related to differing interpersonal profiles. Consistent with the authors' hypotheses, admiration was distinctly related to generally agentic (i.e., dominant) interpersonal processes, whereas rivalry generally reflected (low) communal (i.e., hostile) interpersonal processes. Furthermore, NARQ-admiration and NARQ-rivalry related to generally adaptive and maladaptive aspects of status-related constructs, emotional, personality, and social adjustment, respectively. This research provides further support for the NARC, as well as construct validation for the NARQ.

Self-reported discrimination, diabetes distress, and continuous blood glucose in women with type 2 diabetes

We investigated whether self-reported racial discrimination was associated with continuous glucose levels and variability in individuals with diabetes, and whether diabetes distress mediated these associations. Seventy-four Black and White women with type 2 diabetes completed the Experience of Discrimination scale, a measure of lifetime racial discrimination, and the Problem Areas in Diabetes, a measure of diabetes distress. Participants wore a continuous glucose monitor for 24 h after 8 h of fasting, a standard meal, and a 4-h run in period. Higher discrimination predicted higher continuous mean glucose and higher standard deviation of glucose. For both mean and standard deviation of glucose, a race × discrimination interaction indicated a stronger relationship between discrimination and glucose for Whites than for Blacks. Diabetes distress mediated the discrimination-mean glucose relationship. Whites who report discrimination may be uniquely sensitive to distress. These preliminary findings suggest that racial discrimination adversely affects glucose control in women with diabetes, and does so indirectly through diabetes distress. Diabetes distress may be an important therapeutic target to reduce the ill effects of racial discrimination in persons with diabetes.

Differentiating Dark Triad Traits Within and Across Interpersonal Circumplex Surfaces

Recent discussions surrounding the Dark Triad (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) have centered on areas of distinctiveness and overlap. Given that interpersonal dysfunction is a core feature of Dark Triad traits, the current study uses self-report data from 562 undergraduate students to examine the interpersonal characteristics associated with narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism on four interpersonal circumplex (IPC) surfaces. The distinctiveness of these characteristics was examined using a novel bootstrapping methodology for computing confidence intervals around circumplex structural summary method parameters. Results suggest that Dark Triad traits exhibit distinct structural summary method parameters with narcissism characterized by high dominance, psychopathy characterized by a blend of high dominance and low affiliation, and Machiavellianism characterized by low affiliation on the problems, values, and efficacies IPC surfaces. Additionally, there was some heterogeneity in findings for different measures of psychopathy. Gender differences in structural summary parameters were examined, finding similar parameter values despite mean-level differences in Dark Triad traits. Finally, interpersonal information was integrated across different IPC surfaces to create profiles associated with each Dark Triad trait and to provide a more in-depth portrait of associated interpersonal dynamics.

Emotion-relevant impulsivity predicts sustained anger and aggression after remission in bipolar I disorder

Recent evidence suggests that anger and aggression are of concern even during remission for persons with bipolar I disorder, although there is substantial variability in the degree of anger and aggression across individuals. Little research is available to examine psychological models of anger and aggression for those with remitted bipolar disorder, and that was the goal of this study. Participants were 58 persons diagnosed with bipolar I disorder using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, who were followed with monthly symptom severity interviews until they achieved remission, and then assessed using the Aggression-Short Form. We examined traditional predictors of clinical parameters and trauma exposure, and then considered three trait domains that have been shown to be elevated in bipolar disorder and have also been linked to aggression outside of bipolar disorder: emotion-relevant impulsivity, approach motivation, and dominance-related constructs. Emotion-relevant impulsivity was related to anger, hostility, verbal aggression, and physical aggression, even after controlling for clinical variables. Findings extend the importance of emotion-relevant impulsivity to another important clinical outcome and suggest the promise of using psychological models to understand the factors driving aggression and anger problems that persist into remission among persons with bipolar disorder.

Does history of childhood maltreatment make a difference in prison? A hierarchical approach on early family events and personality traits

This study attempts to assess childhood maltreatment in prison through a hierarchical approach. The hierarchical approach principally aims to disentangle the independent effects of childhood maltreatment upon psychiatric morbidity/personality traits, if any, from the burden that the adverse family conditions have already imposed to the mental health of the maltreated individual-prisoner. To this direction, a conceptual framework with five hierarchical levels was constructed, namely: immutable demographic factors; family conditions; childhood maltreatment (physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse); personality traits, habits and psychiatric morbidity; prison-related variables. A self-administered, anonymous set (battery) of questionnaires was administered to 173 male prisoners in the Chalkida prison, Greece; 26% of prisoners disclosed childhood maltreatment. Psychiatric condition in the family, parental alcoholism and parental divorce correlated with childhood maltreatment. After adjustment for immutable demographic factors and family conditions, childhood maltreatment was associated with aggression (both in terms of Lifetime History of Aggression and Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire scores), illicit substance use, personal history of psychiatric condition, current smoking, impulsivity and alcohol abuse. In conclusion, childhood maltreatment represents a pivotal, determining factor in the life course of male prisoners. Delinquents seem to suffer from long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment in terms of numerous mental health aspects.

Trait hostility is associated with systemic inflammation in married couples: an actor-partner analysis

Trait anger and hostility predict the development of coronary heart disease, and systemic inflammation may partly mediate this association. In a sample of 94 middle-aged and older married couples, we replicate research showing a within individuals (i.e., actor effect) association of trait hostility with high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). As a novel extension of that research, the present study also examined the association of individuals' trait hostility with their partners' hsCRP (i.e., partner effect). Controlling for potential confounds, trait hostility, measured with the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, was significantly associated with both participants' own hsCRP, b=.0528 (SE=.0196), p=.008 and their partners' levels b=.0473 (SE=.0194), p=.016. Hence, the inflammatory correlates of trait hostility occur not only within individuals but between them, as well. The effects of unhealthy personality traits may extend to intimate partners and possibly other social network members.

General and maladaptive traits and anger in a combined forensic psychiatric and general population sample

The present study examines the associations between anger and general and maladaptive traits in a combined forensic psychiatric and community sample of men. Thirty-four male forensic psychiatric patients and 219 men from the general population completed the Novaco Anger Scale (NAS; Novaco, 1994), the NEO-PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992), the ADP-IV (Schotte & De Doncker, 1994) and the VKP (Duijsens, Haringsma, & EurelingsBontekoe, 1999) at two measurement occasions with a one-year interval. The results of a series of multiple regression analyses showed that general and maladaptive traits accounted for a substantial amount of variance in anger scores. Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Externalizing traits were most prominent in the prediction of anger, while Conscientiousness was acting as a suppressor variable in the regression models. Strengths and limitations of the present study and implications for further research and clinical practice are discussed.

Interpersonal circumplex descriptions of psychosocial risk factors for physical illness: application to hostility, neuroticism, and marital adjustment

Personality risk factors for physical illness are typically studied individually and apart from risk factors reflecting the social environment, potentially fostering a piecemeal understanding of psychosocial influences on health. Because it can be used to describe both personality and social relationship processes, the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) provides an integrative approach to psychosocial risk. In 301 married couples we examined IPC correlates of 3 risk factor domains: anger, hostility, and aggressiveness; neuroticism; and marital adjustment. Risk factors displayed IPC locations ranging from hostile dominance (e.g., verbal aggressiveness, marital conflict) to hostility (e.g., anger) to hostile submissiveness (e.g., anxiety, depression); protective factors (marital satisfaction and support) reflected warmth or friendliness in the IPC. Similar descriptions were found using self-reports and spouse ratings of IPC dimensions, indicating that interpersonal styles associated with risk factors do not simply reflect common method variance. Findings identify interpersonal processes reflecting low affiliation or high hostility as a common component of risk and indicate distinctions among risk factors along the dominance dimension.

Anger and hostility from the perspective of the Big Five personality model

This study was aimed at examining the relationships of the personality dimensions of the five-factor model or Big Five with trait anger and with two specific traits of hostility (mistrust and confrontational attitude), and identifying the similarities and differences between trait anger and hostility in the framework of the Big Five. In a sample of 353 male and female adults, the Big Five explained a significant percentage of individual differences in trait anger and hostility after controlling the effects due to the relationship between both constructs and content overlapping across scales. In addition, trait anger was primarily associated with neuroticism, whereas mistrust and confrontational attitude were principally related to low agreeableness. These findings are discussed in the context of the anger-hostility-aggression syndrome and the capability of the Big Five for organizing and clarifying related personality constructs.

Cardiovascular functioning, personality, and the social world: the domain of hierarchical power

The present paper considers connections between cardiovascular functioning (i.e., disease status and acute stress responses) and social dominance, and its counterpart, social submissiveness, both of which are part of the broader domain of "hierarchical power" [Bugental, D.B., 2000. Acquisition of the algorithms of social life: a domain-based approach. Psychological Bulletin 126, 187-219]. Empirical research on connections between dominance/submissiveness and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in humans is reviewed, as is research on dominance/submissiveness and cardiovascular reactivity to, and recovery from, acute stressors. Three general conclusions are established. First, in both cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations, trait and behavioral indicators of dominance have been positively associated with cardiovascular disease severity, incidence, and progression, whereas preliminary evidence from two studies suggests that trait submissiveness may protect against poorer disease outcomes. Second, among men and women, trait dominance is associated with reactivity to and recovery from acute stressors, particularly social challenges. Third, linkages between dominance/submissiveness and cardiovascular functioning, especially cardiovascular reactivity, are characterized by gender-specific patterning, and this patterning emerges as a function of social context. Implications for the next generation of research concerning social dominance, gender, and cardiovascular functioning are discussed.

Personality and risk of physical illness

Several personality characteristics have been linked in multiple well-designed prospective studies to subsequent physical health outcomes, such as longevity and the development and course of cardiovascular disease. The evidence is strongest for negative affectivity/neuroticism, anger/hostility and related traits, and optimism. Models of mechanisms underlying these associations have emphasized physiological effects of stress, exposure to stressors, and health behavior. Preliminary evidence supports the viability of some mechanisms, but formal mediational tests are lacking. In addition to addressing limitations and inconsistencies in this literature, future research should address developmental aspects of these psychosocial risk factors, contextual moderators of their health effects, and intervention applications in the prevention and management of disease. In these efforts, greater incorporation of concepts and methods in the structural, social-cognitive, and interpersonal perspectives in the field of personality are needed.

Role of motivation to respond to provocation, the social environment, and trait aggression in alcohol-related aggression

Little attention has been paid to the motivation to respond to provocation and to the interaction between this motivation, alcohol, the drinking environment, and individual characteristics. Undergraduates at six Canadian universities (N = 1,232) read three vignettes describing conflict situations with social environmental manipulations while imagining themselves as either sober or intoxicated. Self-ratings assessed likelihood of assertive and aggressive responses and motivational indices of anger, offensiveness of the instigator's actions, and importance to respond to the provocation. Respondents also completed a measure of trait aggression. Multi-group structural equation models supported the hypothesis that perceived likelihood of reactive aggression is influenced by perceived alcohol intoxication, gender, trait aggression, social environmental factors, and motivation to respond to the provocation. In addition, a number of interactions were found among the predictors. These results provide insight into the types of factors that may influence aggression in drinking situations.

Hostility, Anger, and Marital Adjustment: Concurrent and Prospective Associations with Psychosocial Vulnerability

Hostility may contribute to risk for disease through psychosocial vulnerability, including the erosion of the quality of close relationships. This study examined hostility, anger, concurrent ratings of the relationship, and change in marital adjustment over 18 months in 122 married couples. Wives' and husbands' hostility and anger were related to concurrent ratings of marital adjustment and conflict. In prospective analyses, wives' but not husbands' hostility and anger were related to change in marital adjustment. In hierarchical regression and SEM models wives' anger was a unique predictor of both wives' and husbands' change in marital adjustment. The association between wives' anger and change in husbands' marital satisfaction was mediated by husbands' ratings of conflict in the marriage. These results support the role of hostility and anger in the development of psychosocial vulnerability, but also suggest an asymmetry in the effects of wives' and husbands' trait anger and hostility on marital adjustment.

Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Mechanisms Mediating the Relationship between Anger Expression and Cardiovascular Risk: Assessment Considerations and Improvements

The hypothesis that intense anger experience may increase risk for or exacerbate cardiovascular diseases has been under active theoretical and empirical interest for decades. Biopsychological models of disease suggest that persons displaying exaggerated physiological responses to acute emotional or stressful states are at a greater risk to develop cardiovascular disorders. The last two decades have witnessed active work to refine means by which anger expression can be assessed, and laboratory research has produced evidence suggesting that certain expression styles may predict enhanced physiological responses to acute stress. In this paper, we review methodological and definition issues related to the assessment of anger, and we summarize recent improvements on the assessment of anger expression. We also review recent studies addressing the association between anger and cardiovascular diseases, and we present potential neuroendocrine and behavioral mechanisms through which anger expression may increase risk for cardiovascular disease.

Socioeconomic status, psychosocial processes, and perceived health: an interpersonal perspective

BACKGROUND

Psychosocial variables, including stress, emotions, and social factors, may contribute to the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. Concepts and methods from interpersonal theory (1) could provide a useful framework for research concerning the roles of psychosocial factors in socioeconomic health disparities.

PURPOSE

We examined the association between SES and psychosocial processes captured by the interpersonal circumplex and tested the degree to which circumplex ratings explained the association between SES and perceived health.

METHODS

San Diego community residents (N = 304; 51% male; 34% Latino; 50% White; 20% Black; 6.8% Asian/Asian American; 2.9% another ethnicity) completed a circumplex-based assessment of several social contexts (home, work, and community), the SF-12 measure of perceived health, and questions concerning demographic characteristics.

RESULTS

Multilevel models revealed that individuals with lower SES described their social worlds as more hostile and less friendly compared with their higher SES counterparts. Furthermore, lower SES was associated with perceptions of exposure to more dominant or controlling behavior from others, compared with higher SES. Appraisals of hostility versus friendliness, in particular, helped explain the inverse association between SES and some aspects of perceived health.

CONCLUSIONS

Applications of interpersonal theory may be useful in efforts to understand the roles of psychosocial factors in SES-related health disparities.

Hostility and sex differences in the magnitude, duration, and determinants of heart rate response to forehead cold pressor: Parasympathetic aspects of risk

Recent models hypothesize that hostility confers increased risk of CHD through weaker parasympathetic dampening of cardiovascular reactivity (CVR). We tested this possibility using the forehead cold pressor task, a common maneuver which elicits the "dive reflex" characterized by a reflexive decrease in HR presumably through cardiac-parasympathetic stimulation. Participants were initially chosen from the outer quartiles of a sample of 670 undergraduates screened using the hostility subscale of the Aggression Questionnaire ([Buss, A.H., Perry, M., 1992. The Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 452-459.]). The final sample of 80 participants was evenly divided between men and women and high and low hostility. Following a 10-min baseline, participants underwent a 3-min forehead cold pressor task. The task evoked a significant HR deceleration that was mediated by PNS activation, as assessed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Replicating prior research, men displayed greater decrease in HR. More important, low hostiles maintained larger HR deceleration over time compared to high hostiles although the autonomic basis for this effect was unclear. The findings broaden understanding of hostility and sex-related cardiovascular functioning and support the task as a method for evoking PNS-cardiac stimulation.

Distinctions Among Agency, Communion, and Unmitigated Agency and Communion According to the Interpersonal Circumplex, Five-Factor Model, and Social-Emotional Correlates

In this study, we examined common measures of agency (AG), communion (CM), and unmitigated agency (UA) and unmitigated communion (UC) using the interpersonal circumplex and Five-factor models (FFM) as conceptual frameworks. AG aligned with interpersonal dominance in circumplex space and related positively to conscientiousness and inversely to neuroticism. CM corresponded with interpersonal affiliation and related positively to conscientiousness. UA was consistent with hostile-dominance and related to lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism. UC related to friendly submission but was not strongly represented in the circumplex and did not relate to the FFM. Each construct showed distinct social-emotional correlates. These findings support the convergent and divergent properties of the constructs but suggest that additional attention to the conceptual definition and measurement of UC is warranted.

Hostility and Perceptions of Support in Ambiguous Social Interactions

The present study investigated whether a social information processing bias contributes to the inverse association between trait hostility and perceived social support. A sample of 104 undergraduates (50 men) completed a measure of hostility and rated videotaped interactions in which a speaker disclosed a problem while a listener reacted ambiguously. Results showed that hostile persons rated listeners as less friendly and socially supportive across six conversations, although the nature of the hostility effect varied by sex, target rated, and manner in which support was assessed. Hostility and target interactively impacted ratings of support and affiliation only for men. At least in part, a social information processing bias could contribute to hostile persons' perceptions of their social networks.

The influence of personality, measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), on symptoms among subjects in suspected sick buildings

The aim was to study possible relationships between personality traits as measured by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP), a self-report personality inventory based on psychobiological theory, and medical symptoms, in subjects with previous work history in suspected sick buildings. The study comprised 195 participants from 19 consecutive cases of suspected sick buildings, initially collected in 1988-92. In 1998-89, the KSP inventory and a symptoms questionnaire were administered in a postal follow-up study. There were 16 questions on symptoms, including symptoms from the eyes, nose, throat, skin, and headache, tiredness, and a symptom score (SC), ranging from 0 to 16, was calculated. The questionnaire also requested information on personal factors, including age, gender, smoking habits, allergy and diagnosed asthma. The KSP ratings in the study group did not differ from the mean personality scale norm scores, calculated from an external reference group. Females had higher scores for somatic anxiety (P < 0.01), muscular tension (P < 0.001), psychic anxiety (P < 0.01), psychasthenia (P < 0.05), indirect aggression (P < 0.05), and guilt (P < 0.05), while males scored higher on detachment (P < 0.001). Subjects with higher SC were found to display higher degree of somatic anxiety (P < 0.001), muscular tension (P < 0.001), psychic anxiety (P < 0.001), psychasthenia (P < 0.001), inhibition of aggression (P < 0.05), detachment (P < 0.05), suspicion (P < 0.01), indirect aggression (P < 0.01), and verbal aggression (P < 0.05). In addition, ocular, respiratory, dermal, and systemic symptoms (headache and tiredness) were significantly related to anxiety- and aggressivity-related scales. There were associations between personality scales and change of symptom score (SC) during the 9-year period. The associations between KSP personality traits and symptoms were more pronounced in females. In conclusion, there are gender differences in personality and SBS symptoms. Personality may play a role in the occurrence of symptoms studied in indoor environmental epidemiology. Our results support a view that measurement of personality could be of value in future studies and vulnerability to environmental stress.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Personality and personal vulnerability should be considered in both indoor environmental epidemiology and practical handling of building with suspected indoor problem, especially when the technical investigations fail to identify any obvious technical malfunction. Moreover, personality aspects should be considered among subjects with possible vulnerable personality exposed to environmental stress, and personality diagnosis can be a complementary tool useful when assessing 'sick building patients' in the medical services. We found no evidence of severe personality pathology in among those working in workplaces with environmental problems so called 'sick buildings'.

The relation of aggression, hostility, and anger to lipopolysaccharide-stimulated tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha by blood monocytes from normal men

Aggression, hostility, and anger significantly predict morbidity and mortality from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACVD). ACVD is believed to be an inflammatory disease characterized by increased expression of a number of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. This study examined the relation of aggression, hostility, and anger to monocyte-associated TNF-alpha expression following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Participants were 62 healthy, non-smoking men (aged 18-45 years). Hostility, anger, verbal, and physical aggression were assessed using the Buss-Perry aggression questionnaire (BPAQ). LPS-stimulated TNF-alpha expression was determined using dual-color flow cytometry gating for CD14(+) cells. After controlling for age, race, education, and alcohol use, scores on the hostility (p=.013), physical aggression (p=.010), and verbal aggression (p=.034) subscales, and the total score (p=.007) on the BPAQ were positively associated with LPS-stimulated TNF-alpha expression. The results suggest that hostility and aggression are associated with an increased expression of TNF-alpha, a cytokine implicated in ACVD.