Key result
Recalling and speaking about specific relationships, particularly negative ones, elicited consistently greater cardiovascular reactivity in women compared to men.
Why the study?
Does recalling and speaking about social relationships affect cardiovascular reactivity differently in men and women?
Does recalling and speaking about social relationships affect cardiovascular reactivity differently in men and women?
Recalling and discussing negative social relationships elicits greater cardiovascular reactivity in women compared to men, highlighting gender differences in physiological responses to social cognition.
May indicate greater CV reactivity to negative social recall in women; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective validation before clinical consideration.
BACKGROUND: The mechanisms by which social relationships exert their influence on mental and physical health outcomes deserve greater attention. PURPOSE: Although many studies assess the influence of actual social interactions on cardiovascular reactivity, we hypothesized that cognitive and behavioral processes (e.g., recalling and discussing relationships) may be important factors responsible for the health effects of social relationships. METHODS: We had men and women recall and speak about specific relationships that differed in their underlying positive and negative substrates. RESULTS: Results revealed that gender moderated the hypothesized pattern of responses, with women showing consistently greater cardiovascular reactivity to the speaking task, particularly when speaking about negative relationships, compared to men. CONCLUSIONS: This study is discussed in light of recent research on gender differences in relationship outcomes as well as the potential importance of delineating the cognitive representations and processes that influence reactions to one's social environment.
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Bloor et al. (2004) studied this question. Recalling and speaking about specific relationships vs. Men vs Women / Positive vs Negative relationships was evaluated on Cardiovascular reactivity. Recalling and speaking about specific relationships, particularly negative ones, elicited consistently greater cardiovascular reactivity in women compared to men.
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