Effects of Conflict on the Immunological System

Interpersonal conflict also affects how well the body resists disease. And research­ers have examined how the use of negative (vs. positive) conflict tactics leads to the disruption of the immune system.

One might wonder whether people already infected with a contagious virus might recover if they react toward others in positive ways. In one study, conflict was linked to whether healthy adults catch a cold once they are infected with a cold virus. Cohen and colleagues (1998) asked participants to self-report events that increased their stress for one month, three months, and six months. Cohen et al. then subjected participants to one of two cold viruses (remember, the par­ticipants volunteered!). People with chronic stress (for more than one month) were much more likely to catch a cold than those with low stress. Cohen et al. concluded that “Chronic stressors based on interpersonal conflicts... and prob­lems associated with work [e.g., unemployment] were primarily responsible for the associations found in this study” (p. 221). Those with chronic interpersonal conflicts were almost three times more likely to catch a cold when infected than were those without conflict but who were also infected.

Kiecolt-Glaser et al. (2002) noted that the immunological system is most affected by the endocrine system and other risk factors (e.g., smoking, age).

Directly related to this discussion, Newton and Kiecolt-Glaser (2003) adopted a model (McEwen, 1998) that identifies four ways that communicative processes can negatively affect one’s health:

(1) There are “repeated hits” by different stressors. And conflict qualifies as a stressor that often entails many repeated hits (recurring conflict with a par­ticular person, conflicts at work and home, etc.);

(2) Individuals do not change their communication or other behaviors to adapt to these stressors. And people in conflict often behave in the same strategic way to bring about the same negative physiological effects;

(3) People experience a failure to shut-off physiological reactions to the stress­ors once they are initiated. And because negative conflict requires a longer recovery time for the body to become well again, the body cannot tend to other functions; and

(4) People do not respond well to stressors. Research illustrates that many people simply lack the communication skills needed to react effectively when in conflict. (Newton & Kiecolt-Glaser, p. 413)

In brief, conflict can tax your health if you engage in destructive behaviors but not constructive behaviors. And the negative effects of your own hostile conflict tactics on your own physical health are usually not obvious.

Conclusion 12.1: The principle of staying alive: people who manage conflict con­structively live longer than do people who manage conflict destructively.

BOX 12.1 STUDENT STORY

No Smoking Allowed by

Benjamin Myers

While on the ASU debate team my freshman year I had the chance to meet some very intelligent people, including Justin Sloan. We became good friends very quickly. Looking back, in some respects I idealized him and wished to become a debater of the same caliber. In my sophomore year, I began to notice a personality trait of Justin's that I despise in people—he was a bully. Justin was not a bully in the classical sense of the word; he never beat me up and took my lunch money. But he still had ways of exacting punishment on those he viewed as unequal, or using his wit and analytical tools he would degrade other debaters who he felt were not as talented. David, also known as Tex, was a mild mannered kid who was the butt of many of Justin's put downs.

I soon began to realize that I no longer wanted to debate and the reason for this was that the environment had become infectious and I no longer liked myself as a member of that society. As I began to view the debate team from the perspective of an outsider, the intellectual abuse Tex was enduring at the hand of Justin began to greatly upset me. I did not feel it was my place to say anything however. After all, as I mentioned above, Justin had never dis­played any aggression directly towards me. That was all about to change.

One afternoon I was over at Justin's apartment where he lived with a good friend of mine named Scott. While Justin and me were still cordial to each other, I began to observe that our friendship was beginning to wane. Scott and I, however, were very close friends and I would often hang out at his and Justin's apartment to enjoy Scott's company.

The conflict that erupted between Justin and me revolved around the above decree. While watching the movie, Scott said it was acceptable to smoke inside because Justin was not home. Watching Rob Roy while drinking a few beers and cursing at the British for being insensitive world conquerers makes me think that perhaps I was looking for a fight. I will admit that I was not in the most positive mindset at the time that Justin stormed into the house, saw that I was smoking inside, and immediately lashed out at me. He went into a diatribe about how I was an "idiot," how I could not even follow "simple instructions" and that I should "get the [expletive] out of my house" if I was not going to respect his wishes. Although I was clearly in the wrong, the manner in which Justin handled the situation infuriated me. My initial reaction to this the verbal onslaught was to go outside in an effort to respect his wishes.

While outside my temper began to flare. I began to think that someone should stand up to Justin and that he should not be allowed to get away with verbally assaulting people any time he wished. I began to recall images of bullies in elementary and middle school and the immediate images of Justin constantly picking on Tex and others around him that he viewed as intellec­tually inferior. I decided to confront Justin.

I was smoking the remainder of my cigarette when Justin came outside to leave. I shouted out at him, "I hope you're as good with your fists as you are with you mouth [expletive]!" Justin quickly responded by rushing back up the stairs to meet my verbal challenge with his fists.

Discussion Questions

1. What were the critical factors that set the stage for the conflict before Justin got home?

2. Was Justin justified in calling his former friend an "idiot" and telling him to get out if he cannot obey house rules?

3. Why do you think Benjamin go madder and madder when he went out­side to smoke?

4. In a few places, the expletives were deleted. But we can imagine what they might have been. Does swearing ever have a functional role in con­flict management?

5. Imagine you have conflicts such as this on a routine basis. What effect do you think they would have on your health?