Understanding hypertensive behaviour- I. Preference not to disclose

Preference not to disclose information was investigated as a likely explanation for low rates of report of concerns in hypertensives. The research was designed to explore alternative explanations that have been provided by others. Two studies investigated the effect of situational contexts which provided low or high social pressure to reveal personal life concerns. Results showed that degree of disclosure by hypertensives was determined by a response style: disclosure was flexible and increased when situational pressure for accurate response increased. Thus, hypertensives prefer to withhold information. Normotensives had high levels of report whatever the situational context. The request to disclose was shown to have a potent dysregulatory effect on blood pressure for hypertensives only. Need for social approval was a possible underlying explanation for group differences. There are implications in these findings both for personality theory and therapy development