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Sweating the big stuff: Arousal and stress as functions of self‐uncertainty and identification
Author(s) -
Brown Joshua K.,
Hohman Zachary P.,
Niedbala Elizabeth M.,
Stinnett Alec J.
Publication year - 2021
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/psyp.13836
Subject(s) - arousal , psychology , skin conductance , uncertainty reduction theory , identification (biology) , social psychology , identity (music) , stress (linguistics) , stress reduction , referent , psychophysiology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , applied psychology , engineering , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy , botany , physics , biology , acoustics , biomedical engineering
Groups serve a variety of crucial functions, one of which is the provision of an identity and belief system that impart self‐referent information, thereby reducing self‐uncertainty. Entitative groups are more attractive for highly uncertain participants seeking groups for identification and self‐uncertainty reduction than less entitative groups. The purpose of the current study was to explore how self‐uncertainty impacts physiological arousal and stress responses. Using a mixed‐methods design ( N = 123), we found that self‐uncertainty increased physiological arousal (measured via skin‐conductance level) and stress responses (measured via heart rate). Furthermore, we found that uncertainty‐activated physiological arousal and stress responses were decreased through identification with a high entitativity group. Our findings expand upon uncertainty identity theory by identifying physiological mechanisms that motivate uncertainty reduction.