John Henryism, a personality predisposition to cope actively with psychosocial environmental stressors, results in the belief that hard work and determination are sufficient to overcome obstacles. John Henryism is associated with elevated blood pressure and hypertension in low socioeconomic status African American males and females. The first study will investigate the efficacy of John Henryism, suppressed anger and hostility, social support and perceived stress as predictors of elevated blood pressure and depression in a sample of well-educated African Americans. It is hypothesized that John Henryism, in conjunction with suppressed anger and hostility, low levels of social support or high levels of perceived stress will be associated with elevated blood pressure and depression. The establishment of this cohort will allow an examination of the long-term effect of John Henryism on elevated blood pressure and hypertension in well-educated African Americans. The second study will examine the effects of John Henryism, suppressed anger and hostility on cardiovascular responding to physical and psychosocial stressors. A nonracial and racial psychosocial stressor will be utilized to allow examination of the potential differential cardiovascular responding of African American subjects possessing different levels of John Henryism and suppressed anger to the two types of stressors. Assessment of cardiovascular responding to a physical compared to psychosocial stressors will be conducted to test the hypothesis that, compared to whites, African Americans demonstrate greater cardiovascular responding to physical stressors. These studies will provide an environment in which minority students may gain experience in research, thereby encouraging pursuit of graduate study and research careers in mental health.
