Moderation of physiological stress responses by personality traits and daily hassles: less flexibility of immune system responses

Previously we demonstrated that stressors varying on the dimension of mental effort and controllability have distinctive effects on cardiovascular, endocrine and immune system responses. The purpose of the present study was to relate individual differences in physiological stress responsivity to task appraisal and stress-induced mood changes (issue 1), trait characteristics (issue 2) and daily hassles (issue 3). Appraisal and mood changes did not mediate the differential effects of the stressors. The trait characteristics, aggression and external locus of control and daily hassles moderated the effect of the stressor on physiological parameters, especially immune parameters. Moreover, the moderation effect was different in the high versus the low effort stress task. High aggression, high external locus of control and more daily hassles were associated with increased reactivity in the low effort condition and decreased reactivity in the high effort condition, which is suggested to reflect less differentiated responding to changing task demands and hence, less flexibility in the immune system.