THE RELATION OF BLOOD PRESSURE LEVELS TO THE ASSIMILATION OF IMMIGRANTS AND INTOLERANCE OF AMBIGUITY.

The process of becoming assimilated into a new culture can be a very stressful experience. One of the manifest symptoms of stress is elevated blood pressure. Scores obtained by 50 immigrants on a composite index of assimilation were compared with their blood pressure levels to determine if those experiencing the greatest difficulty in adjusting to the new culture also had the highest blood pressure levels. The blood pressure/assimilation relationship was found to be curvilinear; the low assimilated had the highest blood pressure levels. This relation was not affected by age and general cardiovascular health. It was further assumed that those high on intolerance of ambiguity would experience the greatest difficulty in the assimilation process. This hypothesis was not validated; in fact it appears as though intolerance of ambiguity operated somewhat positively in the assimilation of immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]