Social determinants of cardiovascular reactivity: effects of incentive to exert influence and evaluative threat.

The effects on cardiovascular reactivity of incentive to influence the judgements of the experimenter and the threat of social evaluation were examined in a sample of 60 male and 60 female undergraduates. Participants either were guaranteed $5.00 to prepare and deliver a brief speech or were told that the money was contingent on an evaluation by the experimenter. Participants believed that their speech would be rated for either simple clarity or verbal intelligence. The contingent incentive increased systolic blood pressure reactivity by 6.5 mmHg (32%). Evaluative threat increased systolic reactivity by 7.1 mmHg (36%). These interpersonal processes could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and are likely to affect the degree of cardiovascular reactivity in laboratory studies.