Forty outpatients with a primary unipolar major depression of recent onset and a matched control group of employees were administered the hostility scale of the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire, depression was rated with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and life events were recorded in a structured interview. In a subgroup of depressives who had not reported losses, there was an association of hostility and depression, whereas no such association was found in depressives who had reported losses. The findings are consistent with those of previous studies showing that hostility is largely limited to a subgroup of depressives. In a substantial proportion of the depressives, depression and hostility are independent affects.