Hostile Cognitions Research Articles

Cognitive hostility predicts all-cause mortality irrespective of behavioural risk at late middle and older age

Most but not all evidence supports hostility-related attributes to increase mortality risk. However, studies usually include single attributes, their effects have been studied predominantly in younger populations, and behavioural pathways explaining the mortality effect seem to differ by age. We examined the relationship between all-cause mortality and cognitive hostility, anger, aggression and rebelliousness, and their independence of health behaviours in a late middle-aged and older population. Data were derived from the longitudinal Dutch Study of Medical Information and Lifestyles in the city of Eindhoven, in the Southeast of the Netherlands study among 2679 late middle-aged and older Dutch people. Psychological characteristics were self-reported in 2004/2005, and mortality was monitored from 2005 to 2010. Cox regression analyses were used to calculate the mortality risk by each unique psychological variable with additional adjustments for the other psychological variables and for health behaviours. Baseline adjustments included age, sex, educational level and prevalent morbidity. Cognitive hostility was associated with all-cause mortality, independent of health behaviours (on a scale ranging from 6 to 30, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.05; 95% confidence interval [95% CI): 1.01-1.09]. Anger, aggression and rebelliousness were not associated with mortality risk. In diminishing excess mortality risks, hostile cognitions might be acknowledged separately and additionally to the risk posed by unhealthy lifestyles.

It's the thought that counts: The role of hostile cognition in shaping aggressive responses to social exclusion.

Prior research has confirmed a casual path between social rejection and aggression, but there has been no clear explanation of why social rejection causes aggression. A series of experiments tested the hypothesis that social exclusion increases the inclination to perceive neutral information as hostile, which has implications for aggression. Compared to accepted and control participants, socially excluded participants were more likely to rate aggressive and ambiguous words as similar (Experiment 1a), to complete word fragments with aggressive words (Experiment 1b), and to rate the ambiguous actions of another person as hostile (Experiments 2-4). This hostile cognitive bias among excluded people was related to their aggressive treatment of others who were not involved in the exclusion experience (Experiments 2 and 3) and others with whom participants had no previous contact (Experiment 4). These findings provide a first step in resolving the mystery of why social exclusion produces aggression.

Adolescents with Childhood ADHD and Comorbid Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Aggression, Anger, and Hostility

This study examined the self-reported expression of overt aggressive behaviors and covert emotional and cognitive processes in adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and comorbid disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) during childhood. Participants were a clinically referred sample of 85 individuals diagnosed with ADHD, initially recruited in the early to mid 1990s when they were 7-11 years of age. At that time, 44 (52%) met criteria for a comorbid diagnosis of ODD and an additional 22 (26%) met criteria for a comorbid diagnosis of CD. Approximately 10 years later, these youth, along with an age-matched comparison sample (n=83), were re-evaluated to assess a wide array of outcomes including physical and verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. Individuals diagnosed with ADHD + CD in childhood reported elevated levels of physical aggression when compared to Controls and the ADHD-only group. Individuals diagnosed with ADHD + ODD had elevated levels of verbal aggression compared to Controls. Additionally, both comorbid groups experienced significantly greater amounts of anger, but not hostility, as compared to Controls. Importantly, the persistence of ADHD symptoms into adolescence accounted for most group differences in verbal aggression and anger at follow-up, but not physical aggression, which was accounted for by childhood CD. Adolescents diagnosed with ADHD and comorbid disruptive behavior disorders during childhood report high levels of aggression associated with increased emotionality in the form of anger, but not hostile cognitions. These findings suggest that in addition to inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, emotional dysregulation may be an important component of ADHD, particularly as it presents in adolescence.

Dimensions of hostility in japanese undergraduate students

Japanese undergraduate students (N = 512) completed the Japanese versions of 4 hostility questionnaires: Aggression Questionnaire (Ando et al., 1999); State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (Suzuki & Haruki, 1994); Müller Anger Coping Questionnaire (Otake et al., 2000); and Cynicism Questionnaire (Izawa & Nomura, 2004). Dimensions of hostility, determined by factor analysis for the 12 subscales of the 4 questionnaires, revealed a 4-factor solution: Expressive Hostility, Inhibitive Hostility, Assertiveness, and Hostile Cognition. Prior studies with Western participants had suggested a 2-factor solution of Expression and Experience dimensions of hostility. However, our results forcing a 2-factor solution showed a different pattern: The first factor included Expressive Hostility and Hostile Cognition, and the second factor included Inhibitive Hostility. These results indicate that the dimensions of hostility in Japanese students differed from those in American and European participants. This may be related to characteristics of Japanese society that emphasize cooperative behavior and not expressing angry emotions.

Dysphoria and Hostile Cognition: The Relationship Depends on Levels of Trait Anger

Previous research has found that persistent hostility was associated with a different pattern of attributions than persistent sadness in dysphoric episodes (W. D. Scott, R. E. Ingram, & W. G. Shadel, 2003). In the present study, we attempted to extend these findings by examining another cognitive correlate of hostility in dysphoria: hostile cognition. Measures of dysphoria, trait anger, and hostile cognition were administered to college students. We found that the relationship between dysphoria and hostile cognition depended on the level of trait anger. Specifically, the presence of high trait anger in dysphoria was associated with high levels of hostile cognition whereas low trait anger in dysphoria was not associated with elevated hostile cognition. Moreover, the relationship between trait anger and hostile cognition was stronger among dysphoric participants. This finding adds to existing evidence of affective confounds in clinical research and suggests that discrete moods should be taken into account when assessing cognitive correlates in dysphoria.

The aggression paradox: understanding links among aggression, sensation seeking, and the consideration of future consequences.

Four studies involving 573 female and 272 male college students demonstrated that multiple forms and measures of aggression were associated with high levels of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and a focus on the immediate consequences of behavior. Multiple regression analyses and structural equation models supported a theoretical model based on the general aggression model (C.A. Anderson & B.J. Bushman. 2002), positing that hostile cognition and negative affect mediate the relationships between the aforementioned individual differences and aggression. Sensation seeking also predicted a desire to engage in physical and verbal aggression. The final study demonstrated that relative to those scoring low, individuals scoring high on the consideration of future consequences are only less aggressive when aggression is likely to carry future costs.

Interactive effects of trait hostility and anger expression on cardiovascular reactivity in young men

Hostility and anger-expression style are personality traits often associated with elevated cardiovascular reactivity and potential heightened risk for cardiovascular disease. In the present study a sample of 50 young, healthy men were divided into groups low or high on the Cook–Medley Hostility scale and on anger-out from Spielberger's Anger Expression scale. Subjects worked on mental arithmetic and public speaking tasks in counterbalanced order. Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and hemodynamic indices were measured at baseline and during the tasks. Hostility and anger-out interacted in their effects on cardiovascular responses. The High Anger-Out/Low-Hostile group displayed the greatest increases in heart rate and blood pressures, while the High Anger-Out/High-Hostile group was least reactive. Furthermore, the High Anger-Out/Low-Hostile group showed a distinct fight/flight response pattern during public speaking, indicated by increases in stroke volume and cardiac output and a decrease in systemic vascular resistance. These results suggest that a mismatch between hostile cognitions and habitual anger expression leads to greater cardiovascular reactivity to challenging tasks, potentially enhancing risk for development of cardiovascular diseases.

Examining an Affective Aggression Framework Weapon and Temperature Effects on Aggressive Thoughts, Affect, and Attitudes

A general framework for studying affective aggression, integrating many insights from previous models (e.g., those of Baron, Berkowitz, Geen, and Zillmann), is presented. New research examining effects of extreme temperatures and photos of guns on arousal, cognition, and affect is reported. Hostile cognition was assessed using an automatic priming task (i.e., Stroop interference). Hostile affect was assessed with the State Hostility Scale. Positive and negative affect, hostile attitudes, perceived comfort, and perceived arousal were also assessed. As expected, hot and cold temperatures increased state hostility and hostile attitudes, and viewing guns did not. As expected, viewing guns primed hostile cognitions and extreme temperatures did not. Theoretical implications of these results and societal implications of the general framework are discussed.

Hot Temperatures, Hostile Affect, Hostile Cognition, and Arousal: Tests of a General Model of Affective Aggression

A general model of affective aggression was used to generate predictions concerning hot temperatures. Experiment 1 examined hot temperature effects on hostile affect, hostile cognition, perceived arousal, and physiological arousal in the context of a study of video games. Experiment 2 examined hot temperature effects on hostile affect, perceived and physiological arousal, and general positive and negative affect in the context of brief aerobic exercise. Consistent results were obtained. Hot temperatures produced increases in hostile affect, hostile cognition, and physiological arousal. Hot temperatures also produced decreases in perceived arousal and general positive affect. These results suggest that hot temperatures may increase aggressive tendencies via any of three separate routes. Hostile affect, hostile cognitions, and excitation transfer processes may all increase the likelihood of biased appraisals of ambiguous social events, biased in a hostile direction.

Mode-specific impact of relaxation training for hypertensive men with type a behavior pattern

Multimodal therapy calls for selection of interventions on the basis of the specific modes of functioning that they are expected to affect. Mode-specificity assumptions were tested in a study of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) training for type A men with borderline hypertension. It was expected that PMR would be especially effective in reducing psychophysiological reactivity and not effective for hostile cognition or behavioral anger expression. Forty-three subjects were randomly assigned to a control group receiving medical information or to information + PMR. PMR subjects reduced blood pressure reactivity to an anger-instigating role-play more than did controls. Although trait questionnaire measures of hostility and outward anger expression showed no group differences, a think-aloud measure of hostility and an observational measure of anger expression favored PMR. Discussion focuses on alternative explanations for these results, including the possibility that measures failing to show treatment effects were those confounded with negative affectivity.

Articulated thoughts of Type A and B individuals in response to social criticism

To explore the hypothesis that individuals with Type A behavior pattern have an underlying sensitivity to social criticism, the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations paradigm was used to examine differences in articulated cognitions between Types A and B individuals in response to simulated taped situations involving social criticism and nonevaluative stress. Individuals with Type B behavior pattern (as measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey) and extreme Type Bs (as measured by the structured interview) engaged in significantly more self-supportive self-talk than Type A individuals in response to social criticism. Types A and B subjects did not differ in their responses to the nonevaluative situation. These findings provide some support for the notion that sensitivity to criticism is a component of Type A. However, the prediction that Type As would respond with more self-deprecating or hostile cognitions than Type Bs was not confirmed.

Cognitive and affective components of the type A hostility dimension

The present work examined the hostility dimension of Type A by focusing on aberrant cognitions that may play an important role in the anger and aggressive experiences of Type A individuals. Study 1 employed several Type A measures to determine the interrelationships among general hostile cognitions, anger, and Type A characteristics. As predicted, those individuals scoring high on certain Type A measures, namely, the Survey of Work Styles and Framingham Type A Scale, endorsed a large number of general hostile attitudes, and also displayed more frequent and intense anger experiences, relative to those individuals scoring low on these measures. Also as predicted, this pattern was not evident for those individuals scoring high on a third Type A measure, the Jenkins Activity Survey. Study 1 also found that Type As, again as defined by both the Survey of Work Styles and Framingham Type A measures, viewed both themselves and others as generally being more hostile and angry. Study 2 replicated several Study 1 findings, and in addition, examined the specific Type A beliefs and fears outlined in Price's cognitive social-learning model of Type A. In support of Price's model, all of the specific Type A beliefs measured were significantly related to Type A, as assessed by both the Survey of Work Styles and Framingham measures. Further analyses, however, suggested that only those specific beliefs reflecting a cynical philosophical attitude contributed to the prediction of anger in Type As, above and beyond that predicted by general hostile attitudes. Study 2 also provided empirical evidence for a distinction between the cognitive (hostile attitudes) and affective (anger) components of the Type A hostility dimension. Results from both studies were then discussed with regard to the possible role of hostile cognitions in contributing to exhanced anger and aggressive social interactions in Type A individuals.