Cardiovascular reactivity and positive/negative affect during conversations.

Systolic and diastolic blood pressures (SBP, DBP) were measured for 70 college students before, during and after informal dyadic conversations. Participants rated the positive and negative affect they experienced during conversation. SBP and DBP increased significantly from baseline to conversation. Increases in SBP and DBP were associated with more positive affect and unrelated to negative affect. Blood pressure measures taken one week later provided a more useful assessment of resting levels than measures taken before the conversation. Relationships between BP reactivity and positive affect remained significant after controlling for resting levels of BP, amount of talk during conversation, and sex of speaker in hierarchical regression. Blood pressure elevation during social interaction may be associated with involvement or enthusiasm, rather than emotional distress; this association is not simply an artifact of talkativeness. We suggest that cardiovascular reactivity in healthy young adults engaged in nonthreatening conversations may be a widespread phenomenon and not necessarily pathological.