Construct validity and sex differences in Cook-Medley hostility

doi:10.1016/0191-8869(89)90206-7

Personality and Individual Differences

Volume 10, Issue 2, 1989, Pages 209-218

https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(89)90206-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

Previous research has shown a relationship between Cook-Medley Hostility (Ho) and coronary heart disease. It has been suggested that the Ho scale measures ‘cynical hostility’ rather than overt hostile behavior. A person high on cynical hostility should be more distrustful of others and experience more stress than an individual who is lower on cynical hostility. The present study analyses the inner structure and validity of the Cook-Medley Ho scale using university undergraduates as respondents. Results of factor analyses revealed the existence of a general factor which centered around cynicism and distrust. The sum of nine items loading above 0.40 on the first rotated factor in the factor analysis can be used as a reliable and valid measure of cynical distrust. A positive correlation between this factor and scores on the Jackson and Messick (1970) Cynicism scale supports the hypothesis that Cook-Medley Hostility is primarily a measure of cynical distrust. The results have several implications for the relationship between hostility and disease. If, as the data suggest, cynicism is the central concept being assessed in the Cook-Medley scale, the relationship between Cook-Medley Ho and coronary heart disease may be mediated by an interpersonal deficit. Since a highly cynical person may be less receptive to social support, this would lead to social isolation, a potential link between cynical distrust and disease. Further analyses revealed significant sex differences in the pattern of correlations between ‘cynical distrust’ and Anger/In and Anger/Out scores. Cynical distrust was positively correlated with Anger/Out in men and with Anger/In in women. These differences are discussed from a gender–role perspective.

References (33)

E.R. Greenglass
Anger in Type A Women: implications for coronary heart disease
Person. individ. Diff.
(1987)
D.S. Krantz et al.
Helplessness, stress level, and the coronary prone behavior pattern
J. exp. soc. Psychol.
(1974)
J. Baker Miller
Women and Power
J.C. Barefoot et al.
Hostility, CHD incidence and total mortality: 25-year follow-up study of 255 physicians
Psychosomat. Med.
(1983)
T. Bernardez-Bonesatti
Women and anger: conflicts with aggression in contemporary women
J. Am. Women's Assoc.
(1978)
A. Buss
The Psychology of Aggression
(1961)
W.W. Cook et al.
Proposed hostility and pharisaic-virtue scales for the MMPI
J. appl. Psychol.
(1954)
P.T. Costa et al.
Content and comprehensiveness in the MMPI: an item factor analysis in a normal adult sample
J. Person. soc. Psychol.
(1985)
E.L. Diamond
The role of anger and hostility in essential hypertension and coronary heart disease
Psychol. Bull.
(1982)
B.G. Ginsberg et al.
Premarital relationship improvement by maximizing empathy and self-disclosure: the PRIMES program

D.C. Glass

Behaviour Patterns, Stress and Coronary Disease

(1977)

E.R. Greenglass

A World of Difference: Gender Roles in Perspective

(1982)

S.G. Haynes et al.

Women, work and coronary heart disease: results from the Framingham 10-year followup study

D.N. Jackson et al.

Convergent and discriminant validation of the Differential Personality Inventory

D.N. Jackson et al.

The Differential Personality Inventory

(1970)

C.D. Jenkins et al.

Jenkins Activity Survey Manual

(1979)

Cited by (125)

Attitudes to AI among high school students: Understanding distrust towards humans will not help us understand distrust towards AI
2022, Personality and Individual Differences
Citation Excerpt :
To measure attitudes towards AI in that setting, the psychological construct of cynical hostility seems to be fitting. It is defined as a belief system dominated by cynicism, a negative view of human nature in which people are motivated primarily by their own interests (Cook & Medley, 1954; Greenglass & Julkunen, 1989). This set of beliefs is followed by the assumption that people are a frequent source of adversity, and as such, should be treated with caution.
This study aimed to examine how adolescents view artificial intelligence (AI) and its development and create a tool to measure cynical hostility towards AI. Previous studies showed people have mixed feelings about AI, yet interest in AI and its development grows. As AI is central to technological progress, creating a tool that measures the attitude towards it is necessary. Six hundred and fifty-nine high school students took part in the study. The results showed that Cynical Hostility Towards AI Scale (CHTAIS) is a valid and reliable measure and that cynical hostility towards AI is a separate construct from cynical hostility towards humans. The results showed that people are more distrustful of AI when it is perceived as more hostile and less governed by emotions. Cynical hostility towards AI may be a valuable construct, meriting further investigation and theoretical considerations.
Too cynical to reconnect: Cynicism moderates the effect of social exclusion on prosociality through empathy
2021, Personality and Individual Differences
Extant findings are mixed on whether social exclusion impacts prosociality. We propose one factor that may underlie the mixed results: Cynicism. Specifically, cynicism may moderate the exclusion-prosociality link by influencing interpersonal empathy. Compared to less cynical individuals, we expected highly cynical individuals who were excluded to experience less empathy and, consequently, less prosocial behavior. Using an online ball-tossing game, participants were randomly assigned to an exclusion or inclusion condition. Consistent with our predictions, the effect of social exclusion on prosociality through empathy was contingent on cynicism, such that only less-cynical individuals responded to exclusion with greater empathy, which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior. We further showed this effect to hold for cynicism, but not other similar traits typically characterized by high disagreeableness. Findings contribute to the social exclusion literature by suggesting a key variable that may moderate social exclusion's impact on resultant empathy and prosocial behavior and are consistent with the perspective that people who are excluded try to not only become included again but to establish alliances characterized by reciprocity.
Good eats, bad intentions? Reputational costs of organic consumption
2021, Journal of Environmental Psychology
Previous research has shown that people tend to perceive organic consumers as more moral and higher status than conventional consumers. We propose that organic consumption might have reputational costs as well. Drawing from research on do-gooder derogation, virtue signaling, and cynicism, we suggest that people might see organic consumption as driven not only by altruistic but also by selfish – specifically, impression management – motives. In Study 1, participants rated organic (vs. conventional) consumers as having stronger altruistic concerns (for the environment, animal welfare, and social justice), as well as stronger impression management motives: organic (vs. conventional) consumers were seen as trying to appear more moral and high-status than they actually were. In Study 2, we separately assessed participants' perception of organic (vs. conventional) consumers’ actual (vs. signaled) levels of morality and status. Organic consumers were perceived as trying to appear as more moral (but not more high-status) than they actually were, whereas conventional consumers were perceived as being honest in the impressions they tried to make. These results demonstrate that organic consumption might have not only positive, but also negative, reputational consequences.
Organizational justice and autonomy as moderators of the relationship between social and organizational cynicism
2019, Personality and Individual Differences
Citation Excerpt :
First, social cynicism reflects negative views toward individuals, social groups, and social institutions in general (Leung et al., 2010), while organizational cynicism is an attitude specifically targeting an employee's own organization. Second, while personal (Hakulinen et al., 2014) and social cynicism have been shown to be relatively constant and stable over time (Greenglass & Julkunen, 1989), organizational cynicism has been shown to be more variable (Andersson & Bateman, 1997; Dean et al., 1998). This difference between the two types of cynicism leads to an important question: Can organizational cynicism be altered even if social cynicism remains stable?
Healthy organizations are ones that can, to an extent, overcome employee characteristics that result in negative outcomes by creating policies and procedures that minimize the results of these individual differences. The relationship between general social cynicism and three forms of cynicism about one's organization - cognitive, affective, and behavioral - was explored, along with the extent to which organizational justice - distributive, procedural, and interactional - moderates that relationship in two samples - part-time and full-time employees. Findings suggest that social cynicism is related to employees' organizational cynicism when conceptualized as a cognition, but not when conceptualized as an affect or a behavior in part-time employees. Autonomy was added as an additional predictor of organizational cynicism for full-time employees. In this sample, social cynicism was related to all three forms of organizational cynicism and interacted with perceptions of distributive injustice to predict affective organizational cynicism, and with autonomy to predict behavioral organizational cynicism. These results support the conclusion that the effect of employee social cynicism on their cynicism about the organization may be moderated by instituting policies emphasizing greater fairness and autonomy-granting.
Relations between plasma oxytocin and cortisol: The stress buffering role of social support
2016, Neurobiology of Stress
Stress responses in humans can be attenuated by exogenous oxytocin administration, and these stress-buffering properties may be moderated by social factors. Yet, the influence of acute stressors on circulating endogenous oxytocin levels have been inconsistent, and limited information is available concerning the influence of social support in moderating this relationship. In the current investigation, undergraduate women (N = 67) were assessed in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) with either social support available from a close female friend or no social support being available. An additional set of women served as controls. The TSST elicited marked elevations of state anxiety and negative emotions, which were largely attenuated among women who received social support. Furthermore, baseline oxytocin levels were inversely related to women's general feelings of distrust, as well as basal plasma cortisol levels. Despite these associations, oxytocin levels were unaffected by the TSST, and this was the case irrespective of oral contraceptive use or estrogen levels. In contrast, plasma cortisol elevations were elicited by the psychosocial stressor, but only in women using oral contraceptives, an effect that was prevented when social support was available. Taken together, these data provisionally suggest that changes in plasma oxytocin might not accompany the stress attenuating effects of social support on cortisol levels. Moreover, as plasma oxytocin might not reliably reflect brain oxytocin levels, the linkage between oxytocin and prosocial behaviors remains tenuous.
Cynical people desire power but rarely acquire it: Exploring the role of cynicism in leadership attainment
2024, British Journal of Psychology

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Construct validity and sex differences in Cook-Medley hostility

Abstract

Person. individ. Diff.

J. exp. soc. Psychol.

Women and Power

Hostility, CHD incidence and total mortality: 25-year follow-up study of 255 physicians

Psychosomat. Med.

Women and anger: conflicts with aggression in contemporary women

J. Am. Women's Assoc.

The Psychology of Aggression

Proposed hostility and pharisaic-virtue scales for the MMPI

J. appl. Psychol.

Content and comprehensiveness in the MMPI: an item factor analysis in a normal adult sample

J. Person. soc. Psychol.

The role of anger and hostility in essential hypertension and coronary heart disease

Psychol. Bull.