Hostility-related variables and plasma lipid levels.

The present study was conducted to examine whether lipid levels would be related to cynical hostility (an attitudinal component of hostility), expressive hostility (a behavioral component of hostility), and neurotic hostility (an emotional component of hostility). Subjects were 74 men and 54 women who were free of potential medical factors affecting lipoprotein levels. Across both genders, expressive hostility was found to be positively related to total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Neurotic hostility was not related to lipid levels for either men or women. These results are congruent with other evidence, suggesting that expressive hostility but not hostile emotions contributes to atherogenesis. For men but not women, cynical hostility was found to be positively related to LDL. These results for men are congruent with findings, albeit not consistent, of a relation between cynical hostility and coronary artery disease.