Dominance, gender, and cardiovascular reactivity during social interaction

Abstract

Associations between trait dominance and cardiovascular reactivity were examined in previously unacquainted healthy men and women. Subjects participated in three mixed-gender dyadic interactions with the same partner while their cardiovascular responses were assessed. Among men, but not women, trait dominance was positively and significantly associated with systolic blood pressure reactivity. For men and women, diastolic blood pressure reactivity was positively and significantly associated with trait dominance while participants prepared to interact and with partner's trait dominance while they interacted. All effects held after controlling for trait hostility. Dominance merits attention as a correlate of cardiovascular reactivity, a finding that parallels emerging patterns in the cardiovascular disease literature. Gender and gender-related social factors as potential moderators of this relationship are discussed.

Toward an Understanding of Gender Differences in the Impact of Marital Conflict on Health

“…For example, exposure during a problem-solving interaction to a male partner who displays dominant behavior produces greater SBP reactivity in women (Newton and Bane 2001). Both men and women also display elevated DBP while interacting with a dominant partner when instructed to influence their partner or when asserting differing opinions (Gramer and Berner 2005;Newton et al 1999). Similarly, when interacting with a spouse, wives given the task to influence their husbands exhibit greater DBP reactivity when they perceive him to be dominant (Brown et al 1998) However, subordinate individuals do not always exhibit greater reactivity.…”

Psychosocial influences on the development and course of coronary heart disease: Current status and implications for research and practice.

“…Hence, physiological effects of recurring efforts to assert social dominance may promote the initiation and progression of CAD (J. R. Kaplan et al, 1987;Skantze et al, 1998). 1 In humans, efforts to assert social influence or interpersonal control evoke heightened CVR (Smith, Nealey, Kircher, & Limon, 1997;, and persons scoring high on personality measures of dominance display greater CVR during social interaction (Newton, Bane, Flores, & Greenfield, 1999). Although this literature is small, the available epidemiological, animal, and psychophysiological studies suggest that dominance may confer risk for CHD.…”

Effects of trait dominance on psychological and cardiovascular responses to social influence attempts: the role of gender and partner dominance

“…The cardiovascular impact of dominant behavior has been demonstrated by studies noting pronounced, sympathetically mediated SBP and/or HR reactivity in situations requiring effortful attempts to influence interaction partners or social equivalents of active coping (Gramer and Huber, 1996;Smith et al, 1996Smith et al, , 2000. Investigations that directly assessed the influence of trait dominance on cardiovascular reactivity are few in number, but at least among men, available data suggest enhanced cardiac influences in high dominant subjects, indicated by elevated SBP reactivity (Gramer, 2003;Newton et al, 1999), whereas the responses of submissive subjects seem to be characterized by relatively greater vascular or DBP effects and enhanced distress (Gramer, 2003). Submissive men were also noted to display slower habituation of cardiovascular responses during task performance (Gramer and Huber, 1997;Rejeski et al, 1989) and less complete DBP recovery (Gramer, 2003).…”

“…In dominant primates, enhanced risk was confined to unstable social environments that demand recurring efforts to assert the social position (Seeman and McEwen, 1996;Shively et al, 2000). Among human subjects, interacting with a dominant partner was found to be related to enhanced DBP reactivity (Newton et al, 1999;Brown et al, 1998). Thus, demanding environmental conditions might disrupt the effective coping pattern of dominant individuals.…”