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THE EFFECTS OF THREAT OF SHOCK ON HEART RATE FOR SUBJECTS WHO DIFFER IN MANIFEST ANXIETY AND FEAR OF SHOCK
Author(s) -
Hodges W. F.,
Spielberger C. D.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1966.tb02656.x
Subject(s) - psychology , anxiety , shock (circulatory) , stressor , heart rate , personality , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , cognition , conceptualization , trait anxiety , social psychology , psychiatry , blood pressure , medicine , artificial intelligence , computer science
Although there is growing consensus that psychophysiological response to stress is in part a function of the S s’ definition of the situation, many investigators continue to ignore individual differences in S s’ interpretation of stressor situations. In this study, high (HA) and low (LA) anxiety S s were run in Threat of Shock and No Threat Conditions. The Threat Condition produced a significant mean increase in heart rate (HR) as compared to the No Threat Condition, but there was no difference in the HR response of HA and LA S s to threat of shock. However, S s who reported moderate to extreme fear of shock two months prior to the experiment responded with greater HR acceleration than S s who reported little or no fear. These findings were discussed in terms of a conceptualization of “anxiety” which distinguishes between anxiety as a transitory state of the organism and as a relatively permanent personality trait. It was concluded that S s’“cognitive appraisal” of an experimental situation was an important determinant of psychophysiological responses to stress.