ABSTRACT
In everyday life, blood pressure (BP) is one of the most frequently measured physiological variables. Its measurement in the physician’s office and the hospital or clinic far exceeds its use as a variable in psychological research. This is because of its importance as a general index of cardiovascular function and health. Research on effects of psychological stimuli on blood pressure dates back to at least the 1920s, when Nissen, as one example, obtained blood pressure readings of patients in a dentist’s chair. Pressures rose sharply as soon as the dentist entered the room (Woodworth & Schlosberg, 1954). In this chapter, we discuss the possible relationship between cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) and its possible role in the development of heart disease. Another element that is explored further is the effects of personality on CVR. The American writer Washington Irving alluded to these effects in his story about Rip Van Winkle written more than 185 years ago (Irving, 1820). In his story, Irving described the spouse of Rip Van Winkle as a “termagant wife” (a violent, quarreling, scolding woman). Rip was presented as an easygoing person who had “an insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable labor” (p. 36). Rip’s wife nagged him for his laziness, carelessness, and the ruin he was causing his family. His wife’s sharp tongue often drove Rip into the woods with his hunting dog and rifle. In Irving’s story, Rip went into the woods one day where he met a band of weird people. He drank a great deal of their potent liquor, fell into a deep sleep, and did not waken for 20 years! When Rip finally returned home he found that his very hostile, angry wife had died some years before. It appears that she broke a blood vessel while yelling at a peddler in a fit of rage. Irving was writing about folk wisdom of the time that if you were a chronically ill-tempered person you could have a stroke. This common belief of more than 185 years ago underlies some contemporary research into factors that cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease.
