The authors examined the relations of social interactions with cardiovascular response in the context of two friends disclosing a problem. They also examined the relations of the sex composition of the dyad and partner gender-related traits (communion/agency) with social interactions. Same-sex and opposite-sex dyads (N = 79) came to the lab. One friend disclosed a real-life problem while the partner provided support; cardiovascular response was monitored. Women provided more emotional support than men, and this sex difference was due to women's higher levels of communion. Agency was linked with greater advice, whereas unmitigated communion was linked with greater negative interactions. Negative interactions predicted slower diastolic blood pressure (DBP) recovery, whereas advice predicted slower heart rate (HR) recovery. Sex composition of dyad moderated some of these effects.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. New York: Russell Sage.
2.
Antonucci, T. C., & Akiyama, H. (1987). An examination of sex differences in social support among older men and women. Sex Roles, 17, 737-749.
3.
Bakan, D. (1966). The duality of human existence. Chicago: Rand McNally.
4.
Barbee, A. P., Cunningham, M. R., Winstead, B. A., Derlaga, V. J., Gulley, M. R., Yakeelov, P. A., & Druen, P. B. (1993). Effects of gender role expectations on the social support process. Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 175-190.
5.
Bassoff, E., & Glass, G. (1982). The relationship between sex roles and mental health: A meta-analysis of 26 studies. Counseling Psychologist, 10(4), 105-112.
6.
Burleson, B. R. (1982). The development of comforting communication skills in childhood and adolescence. Child Development, 53, 1578-1588.
7.
Butler, T., Giordano, S., & Neren, S. (1985). Gender and sex role attributes as predictors of utilization of natural support systems during personal stress events. Sex Roles, 13, 515-524.
8.
Christenfeld, N., Gerin, W., Linden, W., Sanders, M., Mathur, J., Deich, J., & Pickering, T. G. (1997). Social support effects on cardiovascular reactivity: Is a stranger as effective as a friend? Psychosomatic Medicine, 59, 388-398.
9.
Cohen, S., & Hoberman, H. M. (1983). Positive events and social supports as buffers of life change stress. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 13, 99-125.
10.
Depner, C. E., & Ingersoll-Dayton, B. (1988). Supportive relationships in later life. Psychology and Aging, 3, 348-357.
11.
Ewart, C. K., Taylor, C. B., Kraemer, H. C., & Agras, W. S. (1991). High blood pressure and marital discord: Not being nasty matters more than being nice. Health Psychology, 10, 155-163.
12.
Fiore, J., Becker, J., & Coppel, D. B. (1983). Social network interactions: A buffer or a stress. American Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 423-439.
13.
Fritz, H. L. (2000). Gender-linked personality traits predict mental health and functional status following a first coronary event. Health Psychology, 19, 420-428.
14.
Fritz, H. L., & Helgeson, V. H. (1998). Distinctions of unmitigated communion from communion: Self-neglect and over-involvement with others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 121-140.
15.
Gerin, W., Milner, D., Chawla, S., & Pickering, T. G. (1995). Social support as a moderator of cardiovascular reactivity in women: A test of the direct effects and buffering hypotheses. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57, 16-22.
16.
Gerin, W., Pieper, C., Levy, R., & Pickering, T. G. (1992). Social support in interaction: A moderator of cardiovascular reactivity. Psychosomatic Medicine, 54, 183-194.
17.
Glynn, L. M., Christenfeld, N., & Gerin, W. (1999). Gender, social support, and cardiovascular responses to stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 234-242.
18.
Goldsmith, D. J., & Dun, S. A. (1997). Sex differences and similarities in the communication of social support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 14, 317-337.
19.
Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
Gove, W. R. (1973). Sex, marital status, and mortality. American Journal of Sociology, 79(1), 45-67.
21.
Helgeson, V. S. (1993). Implications of agency and communion for patient and spouse adjustment to a first coronary event. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 807-816.
22.
Helgeson, V. S. (1994). Relation of agency and communion to well-being: Evidence and potential explanations. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 412-428.
23.
Helgeson, V. S., & Cohen, S. (1996). Social support and adjustment to cancer: Reconciling descriptive, correlational, and intervention research. Health Psychology, 15, 135-148.
24.
Helgeson, V. S., & Fritz, H. L. (1999). Unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion: Distinctions from agency and communion. Journal of Research in Personality, 33, 131-158.
25.
Helgeson, V. S., & Lepore, S. J. (1997). Men's adjustment to prostate cancer: The role of agency and unmitigated agency. Sex Roles, 37(3/4), 251-267.
26.
House, J. S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
27.
Kamarck, T. W., Annunziato, B., & Amateau, L. M. (1995). Affiliation moderates the effects of social threats on stress-related cardiovascular responses: Boundary conditions for a laboratory model of social support. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57, 183-194.
28.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Malarkey, W. B., Chee, M., Newton, T., Cacioppo, J. T., Mao, H. Y., & Glaser, R. (1993). Negative behavior during marital conflict is associated with immunological down-regulation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 395-409.
29.
Kop, W. J. (1999). Chronic and acute psychological risk factors for clinical manifestations of coronary artery disease. Psychosomatic Medicine, 61, 476-487.
30.
Krames, L., England, R., & Flett, G. L. (1988). The role of masculinity and femininity in depression and social satisfaction in elderly females. Sex Roles, 19, 713-721.
31.
Leaper, C., Carson, M., Baker, C., Holliday, H., & Meyers, S. (1995). Self-disclosure and listener social support in same-gender and cross-gender friends' conversations. Sex Roles, 33, 387-404.
32.
Lepore, S. J. (1995). Cynicism, social support, and cardiovascular reactivity. Health Psychology, 14, 210-216.
33.
Lepore, S. J., Allen, K. A., & Evans, G. W. (1993). Social support lowers cardiovascular reactivity to an acute stressor. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 518-524.
34.
Linden, W., Earle, T. L., Gerin, W., & Christenfeld, N. (1997). Physiological stress reactivity and recovery: Conceptual siblings separated at birth? Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 42, 117-135.
35.
Manuck, S. B. (1994). Cardiovascular reactivity and cardiovascular disease: “Once more unto the breach.” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1, 4-13.
36.
Manuck, S. B., Monroe, S. M., Kasprowicz, A., Kaplan, J. R., & Larkin, K. (1989). Psychophysiologic reactivity as a dimension of individual differences. In N. Schneiderman, S. N. Weiss, & P. Kaufmann (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in cardiovascular behavioral medicine (pp. 365-382). New York: Plenum.
37.
Matthews, K. A., Gump, B. B., & Owens, J. F. (2001). Chronic stress influences cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses during acute stress and recovery, especially in men. Health Psychology, 20, 403-410.
38.
Matthews, K. A., Woodall, K. I., & Allen, M. T. (1993). Cardiovascular reactivity to stress predicts future blood pressure status. Hypertension, 22, 479-485.
39.
Mickelson, K. D., Helgeson, V. S., & Weiner, E. (1995). Gender effects on social support provision and receipt. Personal Relationships, 2, 211-224.
40.
Pasch, L. A., Bradbury, T. N., & Davila, J. (1997). Gender, negative affectivity, and observed social support behavior in marital interaction. Personal Relationships, 4, 361-378.
41.
Pennebaker, J. W., & Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95, 274-281.
42.
Rook, K. S. (1984). The negative side of social interaction: Impact on psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1097-1108.
43.
Roy, M. P., Steptoe, A., & Kirschbuam, C. (1998). Life events and social supports as moderators of individual differences in cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1273-1281.
44.
Schaefer, C., Coyne, J. C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). The health-related functions of social support. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 381-406.
45.
Schuster, T. L., Kessler, R. C., & Aseltine, R. H. (1990). Supportive interactions, negative interactions, and depressed mood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 423-438.
46.
Shinn, M., Lehmann, S., & Wong, N. W. (1984). Social interaction and social support. Journal of Social Issues, 40, 55-76.
47.
Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. L. (1978). Masculinity and femininity: Their psychological dimensions, correlates, and antecedents. Austin: University of Texas Press.
48.
Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R. L., & Holahan, C. K. (1979). Negative and positive components of psychological masculinity and femininity and their relationship to self-reports of neurotic and acting out behaviors. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1673-1682.
49.
Stroebe, M. S., & Stroebe, W. (1983). Who suffers more? Sex differences in health risks of the widowed. Psychological Bulletin, 93, 279-301.
50.
Uchino, B. N., Cacioppo, J. R., & Keicolt-Glaser, J. K. (1996). The relationship between social support and physiological processes: A review with an emphasis on underlying mechanisms and implications for health. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 488-531.
51.
Umberson, D., Wortman, C. B., & Kessler, R. C. (1992). Widowhood and depression: Explaining long-term gender differences in vulnerability. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 33, 10-24.
52.
Whitley, B. E. (1984). Sex role orientation and psychological well-being: Two meta-analyses. Sex Roles, 12, 207-225.
