The effects of induced and trait anxiety on the sequential modulation of emotional conflict

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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Must We Suffer to Succeed?

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000228 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 113-124 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Juliane Strack ◽

Paulo Lopes ◽

Francisco Esteves ◽

Pablo Fernandez-Berrocal

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Academic Achievement ◽

Trait Anxiety ◽

The Relationship

Abstract. Why do some people work best under pressure? In two studies, we examined whether and how people use anxiety to motivate themselves. As predicted, clarity of feelings moderated the relationship between trait anxiety and the tendency to use this emotion as a source of motivation (i.e., anxiety motivation). Furthermore, anxiety motivation mediated the relationship between trait anxiety and outcomes – including academic achievement (Study 1) as well as persistence and job satisfaction (Study 2). These findings suggest that individuals who are clear about their feelings are more likely to thrive on anxiety and eustress and possibly use these to achieve their goals and find satisfaction at work.

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A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Study of Anxiety, Fear, and Behavioral Inhibition System Measures

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001.28.4.179 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 179-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Andrew J. Cooper ◽

Adam M. Perkins ◽

Philip J. Corr

Keyword(s):

Trait Anxiety ◽

Behavioral Inhibition ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Self Report ◽

Behavioral Inhibition System ◽

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory ◽

Factor Analytic ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Structural Invariance ◽

Fear And Anxiety

Abstract. Recent revisions to the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality have highlighted the distinction between the emotions of fear and anxiety. These revisions have substantial implications for self-report measurement; in particular, they raise the question of whether separate traits of fear and anxiety exist and, if so, their interrelationship. To address this question, the current study used confirmatory factor analytic procedures to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of measures of trait anxiety, fear, and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). We also examined measurement and structural invariance across gender in 167 males and 173 females who completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Carver and White BIS Scale, and the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS). The findings suggested that trait anxiety and the BIS scale are relatively distinct from Tissue Damage Fear (FSS). Further, the final model showed measurement and structural invariance across gender. The implications of the results for future self-report assessment in RST research are discussed.

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The Direction of Affective Priming as a Function of Trait Anxiety When Naming Target Words With Regular and Irregular Pronunciation

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169.51.3.180 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 51 (3) ◽

pp. 180-190 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Michael P. Berner ◽

Markus A. Maier

Keyword(s):

Trait Anxiety ◽

Reading Aloud ◽

Naming Task ◽

Affective Priming ◽

Priming Effects ◽

Expected Effect ◽

Negative Affective Priming ◽

Whole Word ◽

German Data ◽

Target Words

Abstract. Results from an affective priming experiment confirm the previously reported influence of trait anxiety on the direction of affective priming in the naming task ( Maier, Berner, & Pekrun, 2003 ): On trials in which extremely valenced primes appeared, positive affective priming reversed into negative affective priming with increasing levels of trait anxiety. Using valenced target words with irregular pronunciation did not have the expected effect of increasing the extent to which semantic processes play a role in naming, as affective priming effects were not stronger for irregular targets than for regular targets. This suggests the predominant operation of a whole-word nonsemantic pathway in reading aloud in German. Data from neutral priming trials hint at the possibility that negative affective priming in participants high in trait anxiety is due to inhibition of congruent targets.

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