Effects of ego threat and threat of pain on state anxiety.

William F. Hodges

doi:10.1037/h0025491

Trait versus state anxiety, authoritarianism and ego threat versus physical threat.

Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement ◽

10.1037/h0082358 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 347-361 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Norman S. Endler ◽

Ralph Shedletsky

Keyword(s):

State Anxiety ◽

Ego Threat ◽

Physical Threat

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Multidimensional Anxiety and Content-specificity Effects in Preferential Processing of Threat

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.8.4.252 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 252-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Manuel G. Calvo ◽

P. Avero ◽

M. Dolores Castillo ◽

Juan J. Miguel-Tobal

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Cognitive Biases ◽

Naming Task ◽

Color Naming ◽

Memory Bias ◽

Ego Threat ◽

Phobic Anxiety ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

Content Specificity ◽

Specificity Effects

We examined the relative contribution of specific components of multidimensional anxiety to cognitive biases in the processing of threat-related information in three experiments. Attentional bias was assessed by the emotional Stroop word color-naming task, interpretative bias by an on-line inference processing task, and explicit memory bias by sensitivity (d') and response criterion (β) from word-recognition scores. Multiple regression analyses revealed, first, that phobic anxiety and evaluative anxiety predicted selective attention to physical- and ego-threat information, respectively; cognitive anxiety predicted selective attention to both types of threat. Second, phobic anxiety predicted inhibition of inferences related to physically threatening outcomes of ambiguous situations. And, third, evaluative anxiety predicted a response bias, rather than a genuine memory bias, in the reporting of presented and nonpresented ego-threat information. Other anxiety components, such as motor and physiological anxiety, or interpersonal and daily-routines anxiety made no specific contribution to any cognitive bias. Multidimensional anxiety measures are useful for detecting content-specificity effects in cognitive biases.

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Effects of Fear Induction on Heart Period Variability

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027//0269-8803.13.1.18 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 18-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rudolf Stark ◽

Alfons Hamm ◽

Anne Schienle ◽

Bertram Walter ◽

Dieter Vaitl

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Trait Anxiety ◽

State Anxiety ◽

Self Report ◽

Emotional States ◽

Heart Period ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Heart Period Variability ◽

Physiological Variables ◽

Period Variability

Abstract The present study investigated the influence of contextual fear in comparison to relaxation on heart period variability (HPV), and analyzed differences in HPV between low and high anxious, nonclinical subjects. Fifty-three women participated in the study. Each subject underwent four experimental conditions (control, fear, relaxation, and a combined fear-relaxation condition), lasting 10 min each. Fear was provoked by an unpredictable aversive human scream. Relaxation should be induced with the aid of verbal instructions. To control for respiratory effects on HPV, breathing was paced at 0.2 Hz using an indirect light source. Besides physiological measures (HPV measures, ECG, respiration, forearm EMG, blood pressure), emotional states (pleasure, arousal, dominance, state anxiety) were assessed by subjects' self-reports. Since relaxation instructions did not have any effect neither on the subjective nor on the physiological variables, the present paper focuses on the comparison of the control and the fear condition. The scream reliably induced changes in both physiological and self-report measures. During the fear condition, subjects reported more arousal and state anxiety as well as less pleasure and dominance. Heart period decreased, while EMG and diastolic blood pressure showed a tendency to increase. HPV remained largely unaltered with the exception of the LF component, which slightly decreased under fear induction. Replicating previous findings, trait anxiety was negatively associated with HPV, but there were no treatment-specific differences between subjects with low and high trait anxiety.

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