CONSTITUTIONAL PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY Research in Review MICHAEL MYRTEK Psychophysiology Research Group, Institute of Psychology University of Freiburg Freiburg, West Germany Translated by Mark W. Greenlee ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. 1984 (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers) Orlando San Diego San Francisco New York London Toronto Montreal Sydney Tokyo Sao Paulo This work is a licensed translation of PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGISCHE KONSTITUTIONSFORSCHUNG: EIN BEITRAG ZUR PSYCHOSOMATIK Copyright 1980 Verlag fur Psychologie. Dr. C. J. Hogrefe. COPYRIGHT © 1984, BY ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPY, RECORDING, OR ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER. ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. Orlando, Florida 32887 United Kingdom Edition published by ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. (LONDON) LTD. 24/28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DX Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Myrtek, Michael. Constitutional psychophysiology: research in review. Based on a research project conducted by the psycho- physiology Research Group of the Institute of Psychology at the University of Freiburg. Translation of: Psychophysiologische Konstitutions- forschung. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Psychology, Physiological-Research-Methodology. 2. Medicine, Psychosomatic-Research. I. Universitat Freiburg im Breisgau. Forschungsgruppe Psychophysiolog­ ic. II. Title. [DNLM: 1. Psychophysiology. WL 103 M998p] QP360.M9413 1982 616.08'072 82-18396 ISBN 0-12-512480-5 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 84 85 86 87 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To my children DANIEL, ELENA, and SEBASTIAN PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION The problem of constitution is as old as the sciences of medicine and psychol­ ogy themselves. Much effort has been expended in a search for the biological basis of personality and individual differences that has appeared under various headings such as the nature-nurture problem, body-mind problem, psycho­ physical correlation, etc. Despite the extensive work in this field, resulting in countless articles, reviews, and monographs, no unequivocal conclusions can be drawn as to psychophysiological covariance. This current state of affairs has served as motivation for the present volume. Following the initial work of Kretschmer and Sheldon on the relationship between temperament and somatic types, M. Myrtek and the psychophysiologi­ cal research team of the University of Freiburg have employed numerous psycho­ logical, physiological, biochemical, and anthropometric measurements in exten­ sive multivariate investigations of large student and cardiocirculatory patient samples. All relevant methods of data analysis currently available were applied in our attempt to reduce the data and to type individuals. The findings of these carefully conducted investigations, although often not concurrent with the pre­ dominant expectancies held by researchers in this field, may prove to be a significant landmark in this field of psychophysiology. As such, the present monograph is primarily addressed to research workers and graduate students in the fields of psychophysiology, genetic psychology, personality, and differential xi xii PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION psychology, as well as psychosomatic medicine. Students of other related areas, such as research in stress and strain, biofeedback, behavior therapy, attributional research, and general cardiovascular medicine may well find the present volume relevant to their particular research interests. Upon first reading the original, German version of the present work, I realized the need to disclose these findings to the English-speaking scientific community. It is my hope that the present edition is as clear and idiomatically appropriate as possible. This task has, however, turned out to be more difficult than I had expected. I am, therefore, indebted to Dr. Myrtek for his assistance with the more difficult passages, and my very special thanks go to I. Burgdorf for her careful typing of the final manuscript. A. Sondhauss has prepared the figures and tables and therefore receives my gratitude. Last but not least, I wish to acknowl­ edge the continuous moral support of my wife, Insa, who has played a most significant role in my acquisition of the German language. MARK W. GREENLEE AUTHOR'S PREFACE The present study is based on the findings of a research project conducted by the research team in psychophysiology at the Psychological Institute of the University of Freiburg, West Germany. For the last 8 years, one of our aims, along with multiple time-series studies and activation research, has been to investigate the constitutional aspects of the field of psychophysiology. Owing to its complexity, the task cannot be the work of one individual alone. Thus the author would like to acknowledge the as­ sistance of many co-workers. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My very special thanks to Dr. J. Fahrenberg, who created the basis of this research project in the early 1960s and who decisively contributed to its forma­ tion and development. Dr. L. Delius (late director of the Gollwitzer-Meier In­ stitute of the University of Munster) is gratefully acknowledged for his many critical and encouraging comments. Furthermore, the author wishes to express his gratitude to Dr. med. K. Konig (medical director of the Rehabilitation Clinic for Cardiocirculatory Diseases in Waldkirch) for his cooperation in the clinical investigations. xiii xiv AUTHORS PREFACE F. Foerster advised us on statistical problems and assisted in the development of many special programs. My gratitude should also be expressed to W. Muller for his contribution of the computer analysis of biosignals. The doctoral and graduate students who assisted in conducting the experiments are mentioned at the appropriate places in the text. V. Hoppner designed and built instruments without which certain experiments would not have been possible. D. Gierschner, I. Grubert, and especially P. Kutzner are acknowledged for their extensive biochemical analyses and for their assistance in conducting the experiments. My thanks to G. Jansen for her careful data transfer. R. Scheibel receives my very special thanks for her careful typing of the manuscript and its tables. And, of course, my grateful acknowledgment to my wife, Silvia, whose understanding lent constant support to my work. Finally, I wish to acknowledge gratefully the generous financial support of the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk (Foundation of the Volkswagen Company) in the first years of this project, enabling the development of this research team. The clinical investigations were made possible in part by the funding of the Bundesver- sicherungsanstalt fur Angestellte (National Insurance Foundation), to which I am deeply indebted. The original printing of the German version of this book was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Re­ search Foundation), to which I am most grateful. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BH breath holding BP blood pressure CA Common Annoyances C0 carbon dioxide 2 CP Cold Pressor Test DZ dizygotic twins ECG electrocardiogram EDA electrodermal activity EEG electroencephalogram EL Adjective Check-List EMG electromyogram ER ergometric exercise ESE subjective strain during experiments FBL Freiburg Somatic Complaint List FPI Freiburg Personality Inventory FS factor score (factor analysis) FSS Fear Survey Schedule GT Giessen Test h2 communality (factor analysis) HR Hypochondriac Behavior XV xvi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HV hyperventilation ICG impedance cardiography Κ kurtosis LGW Life Habits Questionnaire LIV law of initial values LM Achievement-Motivation Questionnaire Μ mean MAS Manifest Anxiety Scale MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory MMQ Maudsley Medical Questionnaire MPI Maudsley Personality Inventory MZ monozygotic twins Ν number of subjects ns not significant NS Number Sequence Test 0 oxygen 2 OC orthostatic complaints OT orthostatic test Ρ level of significance PC principal components factor analysis PCA physical circulatory analysis PES present mood and emotional state PWV pulse wave velocity R rest RT reaction time test S skewness SAP subjective ability to perform SD standard deviation SEN Sensory Discrimination and Sensitivity SKAS Scale of Self-Assessment of Current Mood Stab stability coefficients VES autonomic stigmatization V0 max maximal oxygen uptake 2 INTRODUCTION The teachings of Hippocrates may be viewed as the first philosophy of the human constitution. Hippocrates defined the physiological (four humors) and psychological aspects (four temperaments) of constitution. This approach con­ siders two main aspects: (a) the investigation of the biological basis of behavior, that is, the search for psychophysiological relationships; and (b) the role of individual differences in the genesis of certain diseases, which may suggest possible preventive and rehabilitative courses. The present study attempts to offer a contribution to these issues, limited, of course, by current methodological and technical possibilities. In the first chapter, definitions of some essential terms, recent developments, and the current state of research, as well as empirical results are reviewed. Their possible relevance to current problems arising in the prevention and rehabilita­ tion of cardio-circulatory diseases is suggested. Furthermore, important mor­ phological, physiological, and psychophysiological concepts and models will be discussed along with selected studies that deal with the nature-nurture problem. The second chapter describes the psychological and physiological methods cur­ rently applied in research. Since a considerable number of methodological prob­ lems had to be resolved, some special investigations were conducted. Regarding constitutional studies, the section on the reliability and stability of psycho­ physiological variables should be of special interest. In the third chapter, the ι