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This study evaluated cardiovascular responses (CVR) to an active speech task with blatantly discriminatory (BRC) versus neutral (NRC) stimuli and an anger recall task in a sample of Black men (N = 73; age 18 to 47). Diastolic blood pressure scores were higher for NRC versus BRC stimuli during anger recall (p = .05). Moreover, persons in the NRC group who perceived high levels of racism (vs. no racism or BRC group) during active speech showed larger increases in blood pressure across postspeech rest, anger recall, and subsequent rest (p = .03). The notable elevation in CVR in response to an ambiguous event extends current models of racism suggesting that subtle racism is a psychosocial stressor that erodes health through chronically elevated CVR.

John Henryism may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease among people with low education by increased cardiovascular reactivity and prolonged recovery to stress.

Cardiovascular emotional dampening is independent of alexithymia and affect in men. Dampened emotion recognition could potentially influence interpersonal communication and psychosocial distress, thereby further contributing to BP dysregulation and increased cardiovascular risk.

Objective Persons with elevated blood pressure show dampened emotional responses to affect-laden stimuli. We sought to further examine cardiovascular emotional dampening by examination of the relationship between resting hemodynamic measures and recognition of emotion in an African-American community-based sample. Methods Participants were 106 African American men and women (55 female; mean age 52.8 years), mainly low in socioeconomic status and part of the Healthy Aging in Nationally Diverse Longitudinal Samples (HANDLS-Pilot) Pilot Study. Participants evaluated emotional expressions in faces and in sentences using the Perception of Affect Test (PAT). Resting blood pressure, total peripheral resistance (TPR), cardiac output and heart rate were obtained continuously using a Portapres blood pressure monitor. Results Total PAT scores were inversely related to systolic (r = −.30) and diastolic (r = −.24) blood pressure, TPR (r = −.36) and age (r = − .31; p values < .01), and positively related to cardiac output (r = .27) and education (r = .38; p values <.01), and with mental state (r = .25) and body mass index (r = −.20; p values < .05). Accuracy of emotion recognition on the PAT tasks remained inversely related to TPR and blood pressure after adjustment for demographic variables, medication, mental state and body mass index. Conclusions Elevated blood pressure and TPR were associated with reduced perception of affect. TPR was the most consistent independent hemodynamic correlate of emotional dampening for the PAT scores. These results suggest potentially important links among CNS regulation of emotions, hemodynamic processes and hypertension development.

The current study examined affective responses to ambiguous interpersonal interactions containing both ambiguous and overtly racist content. Participants included 74 African American males (ages 18-47), half of whom heard a depiction of a negative social interaction with blatantly racist content (BRC). The remaining participants heard a similar scenario containing no racist content (NRC). Negative affect scores were higher for those in the BRC group, yet individuals in the ambiguous (NRC) condition who reported perceptions of racism in the scenario showed greater negative affect reactivity than those who saw no racism in the scenario. Among those in the NRC group, self-reported past experiences with racial discrimination moderated the effect of perceived racism on negative affect. The authors conclude that the perception of racial discrimination, in particular when evaluating ambiguous situations, may have profound affective consequences for Black men.

These preliminary findings demonstrate significant ethnic and education-related differences in awakening cortisol secretion responses. Our data highlight the importance of considering ethnicity and the moderating effects of social class when examining the associations among social contextual factors and cortisol secretion.

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