Hostility, Agreeableness-Antagonism, and Coronary Heart Disease

Although the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) is widely considered to be an important risk factor for CHD, several recent studies have failed to find associations between TABP and CHD. As a result, investigators using the Structured Interview have begun to examine more specific aspects of TAPB, and Potential for Hostility has emerged as the probable 'toxic component' of the pattern. Other measures of cold-blooded or antagonistic hostility have also been associated with CHD, and this form of hostility can be understood as part of the broader personality domain of Agreeableness vs. Antagonism. We suggest that agreeableness-antagonism itself as well as related traits such as mistrust, manipulativeness, arrogance, and aggression should also be examined as promising predictors of CHD