The effect of neuroticism on reactivity and recovery during a paired cooperative task

This study examined the relationships between Neuroticism and cardiovascular and affective response to a cooperative laboratory task. Eighty-seven college undergraduate women scoring in the upper or lower tertiles on the NEO-FFI Neuroticism scale took part in a paired drawing task along with a laboratory confederate. The task had three conditions distinguished on the basis of on the confederate s interactive style: hostile, friendly, or ambiguous. SBP, DBP, MAP, and HR were measured at intervals during baseline, task, and recovery periods. Anger and anxiety were measured at baseline and during the task. Repeated-measures ANCOVA revealed that Neuroticism had an effect on affective reactivity, but not on cardiovascular reactivity. There were significant interactions between Neuroticism and condition, whereby the high-Neuroticism group showed less SBP and MAP recovery and greater anger reactivity in the hostile condition, and greater SBP and MAP recovery in the friendly condition. An ancillary mediational analysis revealed that the relationship between Neuroticism and anger reactivity was mediated by the participants perception of the confederate s level of hostility. These results suggest that in terms of cardiovascular factors, Neuroticism is most relevant in the period following hostile and friendly social interactions, rather than during the interaction itself.