ABSTRACT
Anger and hostility are key concepts in research on the interplay of emotions, behavior, and health. As possible risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD), they have been the subject of extensive research. Although epidemiological research has favored straightforward, single-risk factor models for psychological variables, this chapter reports empirical studies that demonstrate the usefulness of testing more complicated, interactional, and contextual models for examining the development of CHD. The results of one of the studies described here, based on 351 North Karelian women, indicate that anger-in was associated with elevated blood pressure (BP), but only if the atmosphere in the work unit was experienced as hostile and tense at the same time. In a second study of 119 men from eastern Finland, anger control, together with high levels of cynical hostility, predicted the progression of carotid atherosclerosis (PCA) during a 2-year follow-up. Accelerated PCA was also observed in subjects scoring high on both Anger Control and Anger-Out. It was concluded that these findings have significant implications for future studies of the health consequences of anger suppression and control.
