“…Since its development, this hypothesis has guided research on hypertension, pointing to the brief physiological response that accompanies the occurrence of a laboratory stressor (e.g., Carroll, Phillips, Der, Hunt, & Benzeval, 2011;Carroll et al, 2012;Wright, O'Brien, Hazi, & Kent, 2014). Among these, the cold pressor task, requiring participants to put their hand in cold water, or mental arithmetic, such as counting backward under time pressure, received the most attention (e.g., Menkes et al, 1989;Willemsen et al, 1998). Results have been mixed; in some cases, greater reactivity to stress was associated with the development of clinical cardiovascular events over time (e.g., Carroll et al, 2001Carroll et al, , 2011Chida & Steptoe, 2010;Kamarck et al, 1997); in other cases, the hypothesis was not supported (e.g.…”