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Laboratory studies show that individuals differ appreciably in the magnitude of their inflammatory responses to acute psychological stress. These individual differences are poorly understood, yet may contribute to variation in stress-associated disease vulnerability. The present study examined the possibility that affective responses to acute stress contribute to these differences. For this purpose, 102 relatively-healthy community volunteers (mean age 50 years; 60% female; 91.2% white) performed an acute stress protocol and measures of affective state and serum levels of the proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin (IL)-6 were collected at the end of a 30-min resting baseline, a 5-min evaluative public speaking task, and a 30-min recovery period. Results of regression analyses, controlling for age, race, gender, menopausal status, and body mass index, revealed a positive association of task-related increases in anger …