Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Irvine, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-195).

Although past research has consistently demonstrated that hostile individuals report fewer satisfactory sources of social support, it remains unclear whether their evaluation is based on an objective assessment of their social environment or is coloured by hostile cognitions. To evaluate this question, 120 young adults, falling in the upper or lower tercile groups on a hostility measure, participated in a social cognition experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three priming conditions (Hostility, Support, or Neutral) designed to activate cognitive schemata. They then read through vignettes depicting stressful situations typically encountered by students and evaluated how supportive various offers of help would be perceived in response to these problems. A 2 Hostility (high, low) x 3 Condition (hostility, support, or neutral) MANOVA examined the impact of personality and primed schemata on judgments of social support. Analyses yielded a significant Hostility x Condition interaction. Simple main effect analyses indicated that individuals low in hostility made the most negative judgments of perceived helpfulness in the Hostility condition, supporting the prediction that an active hostile schema biases people to view offers of help in a more pejorative way. However, hostile participants made their most negative judgments in the Support condition, which could indicate that an active social support schema is associated with increased mistrust and guardedness about offers of help in hostile individuals. These data suggest that hostile and non-hostile individuals process support-related information differently, which has important implications for interventions designed to augment social resources in at risk individuals. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This experiment tested hypotheses linking the right cerebral regulation of hostility and cardiovascular reactivity. First, replication of previous research supporting heightened cardiovascular reactivity (mean arterial pressure, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate) among high-hostile participants was attempted. Second, dynamic variations in functional cerebral asymmetry in response to pain (cold pressor stressor) and affective verbal learning (positive and negative valenced word lists) were measured. High- and low-hostile participants (n = 64) were identified using the Cook Medley Hostility Scale. Participants completed either the cold-pressor stressor condition or the no-stress control condition as well as the negative and the positive affective verbal learning test. Cardiovascular measures (MAP, SBP, DBP, and HR) before and after the stress or no-stress condition and before and after the negative and the positive affective learning tasks were recorded. The results demonstrated that high-hostiles had difficulty processing emotional stimuli. High-hostiles were reliably impaired in emotional word learning. Further, results suggested that negative affective learning produced proactive interference for the learning or recall of subsequently presented information. Positive affective learning produced diametrically opposite effects with retroactive interference for the recall of previously presented information. Also, high-hostiles' cardiovascular reactivity to a physical stressor was independent of the valence of the learning task. In contrast, low-hostiles' cardiovascular reactivity was valence dependent with activation to both the positive list concurrent with stress and to the negative list concurrent with no stress. Finally, the results indicated that the effect of the affective learning lists, on the heart, is stress dependent. Neuropsychological theories of ANS regulation and emotion are discussed in relation to the primary findings and a new model of lateralized regulation is proposed. / Ph. D.

Recent research on the neuropsychology of emotion and pain has indicated that emotion and pain are complex processes that may substantially influence each other. Disorders of negative emotion and pain are known to co-occur (Delgado, 2004); however, it is not clear whether negative emotional conditions lead to pain or whether increased pain experiences lead to negative emotion. Further, certain negative emotions, such as hostility or anger, may produce differential effects on the experience of pain, such that they may lead to an increase in pain or a decrease in pain. An increase or decrease in pain perception may lead to altered behavioral, cognitive, and neuropsychological effects in high hostility. In order to more clearly examine the aforementioned relationships, the current experiment examined auditory emotion perception before and after cold pressor pain in high and low hostile men. Additionally, quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was used to measure changes in cerebral activation as a result of auditory emotion perception and cold pressor pain. Results indicated that identification of emotion post-cold pressor differed as a function of hostility level and ear. The high hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the right ear after cold pressor exposure, while the low hostile group increased identification of stimuli at the left ear after cold pressor exposure. Primary QEEG findings indicated increased left temporal activation after cold pressor exposure and increased reactivity to cold pressor pain in the high hostile group. Low hostile men had a bilateral increase in high beta magnitude at the temporal lobes and a bilateral increase in delta magnitude at the frontal lobes after the cold pressor. Results suggest decreased cerebral laterality and left hemisphere activation for emotional and pain processing in high hostile men. / Ph. D.

This research was conducted to develop a richer understanding of resistant behavior displayed by adults in the adult learning environment. Resistant behavior occurs when a student declines the learning opportunity by mentally withdrawing, or by co-opting the instructor's agenda, or by attacking the instructor directly. This research addressed two questions. The first was, "How do instructors perceive the underlying dynamics, or causes they cite, of the hostile resistant behavior they have observed and experienced in the learning environment?" The second question was "How do instructors interpret episodes of hostile resistant behavior?" This qualitative research provides an in depth exploration of the experiences of the participating instructors with hostile resistant behavior in adult graduate education. The participants were veteran teachers accustomed to handling resistant behavior, yet this experience stopped them in their tracks. The hostile resistant behaviors may represent a subcategory of resistance not previously researched, and could happen to anyone. This could be challenging for the most seasoned professional. Interviews were guided by grounded theory concepts as described by Strauss and Corbin. Open-ended interviews were modeled on the work of Seidman. The selected instructors had a minimum of twenty years experience in higher education. They were professionally adept, seasoned educators of adults. Key findings were that: participants were unable to anticipate the onset of resistant behavior; the behavior was persistent and intense; the instructors were unable to isolate causes or develop effective coping strategies; the instructors' emotional reactions included a pattern of surprise, confusion, and cynicism; the emotional impact on the participants was often strong and lasting. The dissertation provided recommendations for further research in instructor-centric; student- centric; and institution-centric categories. Instructor-centric recommendations included: expansion into additional academic disciplines and the training world; effect of on-line delivery methods; impact on instructors' professional reputations; and transformational experience. Student-centric recommendations addressed changes that might be associated with the make up of the student body, such as age and culture; and the effect of the resistant behavior on other members of the class. Institution-centric recommendations included suggestions regarding hostile work environment; protective measures for instructors; and institutionalized support networks. / Ph. D.

This experimented proposed to test the relationships between self-reported hostility and both facial muscle tone and cardiovascular functioning. Based on previous research, it was proposed that individuals high in self-reported hostility would show increased cardiovascular reactivity in response to a physical stressor (the cold-pressor task). Additionally, based on the integration of multiple lines of research, it was proposed that individuals with high levels of self-reported hostility would show asymmetric facial tone, with greater muscle activation at the left-hemiface. Results showed increased cardiovascular responding in the high-hostile participants following exposure to the cold-pressor task. Additionally, the individuals with high levels of self-reported hostility did show asymmetric facial tone, with increased left-hemifacial EMG values. These differences were present prior to exposure to the cold-pressor task, and were increased following the stressor. Results supported the literature showing increased cardiovascular responding to stress in high-hostile individuals, and also supported the proposed relationship between right orbitofrontal functioning and hostility. / Ph. D.

Defensive hostility has been attributed as an early risk factor of coronary heart disease. The autonomic characteristics of high defensive, high hostile (HD) and low defensive, high hostile (LD) men and women were assessed with a variety of cardiovascular (CV) measures. Reactivity and recovery to an active laboratory stressor (video game, VG) and a passive laboratory stressor (hand cold pressor, CP) of 15 HD men, 16 LD men, 16 HD women, and 16 LD women were recorded. It was predicted that the CV patterning associated with the HD participants would display more sympathetic and less vagal control as well as the least pronounced recovery from the stressors in comparison to LD participants. Results revealed differential CV responses to the lab tasks by group. HD women displayed consistently high levels of low frequency power heart rate variability (HRV) during baseline and across conditions. HD men exhibited significantly pronounced heart rate reactivity and reduced high frequency power HRV to the CP task in comparison to LD men. Interestingly, LD women displayed weaker blood pressure (BP) recovery to the VG in comparison to HD women, whereas the opposite pattern was observed in BP recovery to the CP. These results suggest that defensiveness and sex may moderate the CV reactivity and recovery to different types of stressors in hostile participants. / Master of Science

This study investigated the roles of negative affect and cardiovascular reactivity on the attributional responding of hostile males. College males were screened with the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (Cook & Medley, 1954). High and low hostile males were assigned to an arousal inducing (serial subtraction by 7's) or a non-arousal inducing condition (serial subtraction by 1's). Cardiovascular reactivity and self-report of affect were measured to the serial subtraction task. After the task was completed, the participant listened to a vignette (provocative or neutral) which depicted an interpersonal situation. The participant answered questions about the scene to assess attributional responding. The arousal-inducing condition was associated with significantly greater changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate and a higher level of self-reported negative affect than the non-arousal inducing condition. More negative attributions were reported for provocative than neutral scenes. Males in the arousal inducing condition made more negative attributions to neutral scenes than males in the non-arousal condition. There was no significant effect of arousal condition on the negative attributions to provocative scenes. Hostility did not influence the relationship between arousal condition and self-reported affect or arousal condition and attributional responding. This study showed that inducing cardiovascular reactivity prior to a neutral encounter with a partner can affect the males' perception of the potentially neutral encounter. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1971.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1971.