Blunted cardiovascular reactivity may serve as an index of psychological task disengagement in the motivated performance situations

Abstract

Challenge and threat models predict that once individuals become engaged with performance, their evaluations and cardiovascular response determine further outcomes. Although the role of challenge and threat in predicting performance has been extensively tested, few studies have focused on task engagement. We aimed to investigate task engagement in performance at the psychological and physiological levels. We accounted for physiological task engagement by examining blunted cardiovascular reactivity, the third possible cardiovascular response to performance, in addition to the challenge/threat responses. We expected that low psychological task engagement would be related to blunted cardiovascular reactivity during the performance. Gamers (N = 241) completed five matches of the soccer video game FIFA 19. We recorded psychological task engagement, heart rate reactivity, and the difference between goals scored and conceded. Lower psychological task engagement was related to blunted heart rate reactivity during the performance. Furthermore, poorer performance in the previous game was related to increased task engagement in the subsequent match. The findings extend existing literature by providing initial evidence that blunted cardiovascular reactivity may serve as the index of low task engagement.

Blunted Cardiovascular Reactivity Predicts Worse Performance in Working Memory Tasks

“…A recent study by Benke et al [ 20 ] indicated that blunted CVR could be an index of disengagement where less motivated (psychologically) individuals, during a FIFA soccer game, showed a more blunted HR response. However, blunted CVR was not associated with performance (goals scored vs. conceded goals), but after receiving feedback on poor performance, participants were likely to increase their performance in the next game and less likely to show blunted CVR.…”

“…However, blunted CVR was not associated with performance (goals scored vs. conceded goals), but after receiving feedback on poor performance, participants were likely to increase their performance in the next game and less likely to show blunted CVR. The authors suggest that healthy individuals might make use of poor performance and increase their motivational arousal to perform better next time [ 20 ]. It would be interesting to test if the same is true in a group of people with mental disorders and to study further reversing the motivational arousal among people with blunted HR reactivity as a means of treatment.…”

“…The fronto-limbic systems include the medial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula, hippocampus, and amygdala, and studies indicate changes in the function of these areas in response to stress [ 18 ], with reduced activation among people with blunted CVR [ 19 ]. It has been speculated that the dysregulation of the fronto-limbic system could be due to deficits in the physiological system, but more recently, a behavioral disengagement has been proposed as a likely explanation for the blunted CVR [ 4 , 20 , 21 , 22 ].…”

How Curiosity Enhances Performance: Mechanisms of Physiological Engagement, Challenge and Threat Appraisal, and Novelty Deprivation

“…Few studies have investigated how curiosity about a particular task can enhance stress coping mechanisms, such as viewing stress as a challenge rather than a threat (Tomaka & Magoc, 2021). Furthermore, little is known about how task curiosity influences cardiac reactivity, an indicator of motivational intensity and task engagement (Behnke et al, 2021;Richter et al, 2016). Finally, no study has examined how curious individuals react when they cannot perform anticipated actions during an upcoming novel situation.…”

Cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress is associated with generalized self‐efficacy and self‐efficacy outcomes during adventure challenges

“…Empirical evidence has found blunted reactivity to be associated with poor self‐reported mental health (e.g., symptoms of anxiety and depression) (de Rooij et al., 2010) and a wide range of behavioral risk factors for CVD such as obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, and other substance dependencies (O'Riordan et al., 2023; Phillips et al., 2013; Whittaker et al., 2021). Moreover, individuals characterized as blunted reactors have been associated with behaviors indicative of disengagement (Behnke et al., 2021; Chauntry et al., 2019; Messay & Marsland, 2015), reduced effort and perseverance during tasks that are motivation and effort contingent (Ginty et al., 2015, 2020); these observations may be explained by suboptimal functioning in fronto‐limbic brain systems associated with motivated and goal‐directed behavior during stressful tasks/events (Carroll et al., 2017; Ginty et al., 2015). In sum, the current understanding posits that dysregulated CV responses to stress are maladaptive, emphasizing the optimal nature of a moderate response closer to the median (Guest et al., 2021).…”