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DOES AGGRESSION LEAD PEOPLE TO VIEW OTHERS THROUGH
HOSTILE-TINTED GLASSES?
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| Contact: Martine Habra Phone: 604-822-3800(lab) Email: mhabra@interchange.ubc.ca Embargoed until: March 5, 2004 |
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Vancouver, BC, Canada - During difficult times, such as job loss or a romantic breakup, we often "get by with a little help from our friends", as suggested by the famous Beatles' song. However, what is seen as helpful is not only based on what the help or support entails. Our personality can also influence our perception of offers of help and some well-intended offers may fail because the recipient is not really ready for them. This is what is suggested by recent PhD thesis research conducted by Martine Habra, M.A., and Wolfgang Linden, Ph.D., Professor in the University of British Columbia, Department of Psychology. Results of this study were presented for the first time at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, held March 2-5 in Vancouver, British Columbia. "We know that people who report having supportive friends and family are less likely to develop health problems," says Habra. "We also know that people who are very hostile are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, and also report having fewer supportive relationships." Helping hostile individuals develop more friendly and helpful relationships could reduce their risk of illness in the long-term. However, these individuals may carry negative beliefs about people that could affect how they interpret other people's attempts at providing help, which is what this study was designed to test. In addition, it tested whether activating more supportive-type thoughts could help hostile individuals view offers of help in a more positive light. This study involved 120 young adults, half of whom scored high and the other half low on a standardized test to determine the levels of hostility in their personality. All participants first completed a task designed to mentally activate a mindset, or group of related concepts and beliefs; however, they were assigned to different conditions. In the Hostile condition, the task activated hostile beliefs and ideas; in the Supportive condition, the task activated a supportive mindset. A group of participants also participated in a Control condition and served as a comparison group. After this first step, participants read through descriptions of stressful situations and then judged how helpful they viewed various offers of help made by friends and family. Results showed that a hostile mindset does negatively affect people's perception of help, but only in non-hostile individuals. "Hostile people do have a different view of the world, but not one that we expected", says Habra. "When in a more hostile state of mind, aggressive people tend to see others as more helpful. However, it is likely that they are more often disappointed with significant others when friends/family fail to meet their expectations. This likely confirms their view that other people cannot be trusted and only look after their own best interest." | |
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Psychosomatic Medicine is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychosomatic Society, published bimonthly. For information about the journal, contact Vicki White, Managing Editor for Manuscript Production,
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