Cook-Medley hostility, anger, and the Type A behavior pattern in Finland.
According to research, hostility is a reliable predictor of coronary heart disease. Cook-Medley-defined hostility in particular has been seen as a significant precursor of coronary disease. It is important to specify the kind of hostility measured by the Cook-Medley scale. The present study examined the construct validity of the Cook-Medley scale for a sample of 219 university students in Finland, a country with a high incidence of coronary heart disease. The results supported the interpretation of the Cook-Medley scale primarily as a measure of cynicism and distrust. On the basis of our previous research, a subscale of the Cook-Medley scale was formed. This 9-item scale, a measure of Cynical Distrust, correlated positively with cynicism and negatively with trust. Moreover, the over-all pattern of correlations between the new 9-item factor, cynical distrust, and other variables assessing hostility, anger, and trust, was similar to the one obtained for our previous sample of students. It is suggested that this new 9-item scale is a shorter and more specific alternative to the longer Cook-Medley scale as a measure of cynical distrust.
York University, Toronto, Canada.
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Greenglass
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Julkunen
D000328:Adult; D000786:Anger; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D014434:Type A Personality