The relationships among imaginative, direct verbal, and physiological measures of anxiety in an achievement situation.

Raphelson, Alfred C.

doi:10.1037/h0041374

Cited by 59 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Those scoring high in anxiety, measured by self-descriptive tests, behaved like those scoring low in n Achievement measured by content analysis of imaginative behavior. Yet our studies, which began with Raphelson's (1957) use of both diagnostic tests to show diametrically opposite trends in the relation of the two measures to skin conductance, failed to show any correlation between strength of n Achievement and Test Anxiety within individuals when both were diagnosed under neutral conditions (Atkinson and Feather, 1966, p. 341). This implied that we were dealing with two variables which apparently influence achievement-related behavior in diametrically opposite ways.…”

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confidence: 52%

Psychopathology of Human Adaptation

1976

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confidence: 52%

Psychopathology of Human Adaptation

1976

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“…It may very well be that high scoring individuals actually experience an increase in GSR jusc prior to stressful situations. Although the literature on physiological correlates of fear of failure is meager, at least one study reported positive correlations between galvanic skin response and fear of failure (Raphelson, 1957). However, a measure of fear of failure other than hostile press was employed and so the finding is not readily applicable.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Perceived Somatic Reactions to Stress and Hostile Press

1975

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Hostile Press is a measure of fear of failure. We have evidence that people high on Hostile Press see the world as a hostile, threatening place. Following this idea, we felt that persons high on Hostile Press should show psychophysiological reactions to their feelings about the world. 200 male students were given the Hostile Press measure of fear of failure and a "Reactions to Stress Questionnaire." The prediction was that there would be a positive correlation between the rwo measures. In general, the prediction was confirmed.According to the evolutionary model of psychosomatic disorder, inadequate discharge of energy resulting from a heightened state of arousal is presumed to be a causative factor in psychophysiologic diseases. Specifically, the bodily changes in response to stressful situations and perceived threat produce an organism that is biochemically mobilized to engage in "flight" or "fight" but (due to cultural/cognitive inhibitions) elects to "cope." Organic pathology then results from the paradoxically maladaptive effects of the physiological reactions to the stress. One hypothesis derived from this position would be that the incidence of psychosomatic disorder would be higher in individuals who generally view the world as a threatening, hostile place, than in matched individuals who hoId a more positive world view. T o test this hypothesis a measure which reliably distinguishes two such populations would be needed.One method of demonstrated validity and reliability for scoring stories written to modified TAT pictures on the basis of the degree of hostile and threatening imagery is Birney, Burdick, and Teevan's (1969) Hostile Press scoring system for fear of failure. The protocol of the person high in hostile press is typically one with "stories of threat rather than need, and . . . the thteats ate expressed as retaliation or catastrophe" (Birney, Burdick, & Teevan, 1969, p. 77). Prior research by Cohen and Teevan (1975 ) supported the hypothesis that such individuals do tend to have a generally more negative philosophy of human nature than individuals low in hostile press as measured by Wrightsman's (1964) scale. From an evolutionary perspective of psychosomatic disease, it then seems plausible to suspect that such a hostile and threatening world view would take a psychophysiological toll on the high scoring person. If this were true, greater self-report of psychosomatic disturbance by individuals high in hostile press would be expected. METHODEatly in the semester approximately 200 students enrolled in introductory psychology wrote stories to four modified TAT pictures projected on a screen.

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“…The differences between changes in percentage obtained from the HT and LT Ss, as shown in Table 3, were significant in salivary outflow and pulse amplitude , but not in heart rate. This failure to prove a significant relationship of MAS to physiological responding, which may be predicted from a drive theory put forth by Spence and Taylor (Taylor, 1956), has been repeated in several other studies (Beam, 1955;Berry & Martin, 1957;Raphelson, 1957), in which a low correlation was found between MAS and physiological activities. Sarason (1960) pointed out that these negative findings on the validity of MAS-type scales may be explained by its drawing upon sources of anxiety other than autonomic functioning, and partly due to the undependability of a single physiological measure as an indicator of general physiological activity.…”

Section: Effect Of Verbalmentioning

confidence: 91%

The Effect of Verbal Stress on Salivary Outflow, Heart Rate, and Vasomotor Activity

Miyata

1963

Jpn. Psychol. Res

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The effect of verbal stress on physiological indices and its relationship to the level of anxiety (MAS) and of experimentally induced tension (EIT) was tested on 100 Ss. When the stressor was given, EIT was found to be related significantly to the amount of change in salivary outflow (inhibition) and volume pulse amplitude (inhibition), while MAS failed to exhibit any significant relationship to the changes in physiological responding. Sex differences were not found in any of these indices. Several discrepancies in results between the present study and other such investigations were discussed. Kotake (1943) in his study of conditioned salivary reflex in humans reported that CR was well established when the S adapted to the experimental situation. This finding may well be explained in terms of Pavlov's external inhibition which grows out of unfamiliar experimental surroundings.In such alimentary conditioning, the inhibitory or disturbing effect of the experimental situation will be minimized by giving the S a sufficient period of time to adapt to the situation. However, one of the difficulties with which most of the investigators of aversive conditioning in humans meet is that the E's instruction on pain-to-come has itself a fairly effective influence upon the S's physiological activities. Before starting aversive conditioning, the E would give the instruction to the S, informing him that an electric shock or an air-puff will be applied in the experiment. This communication to the S allows him to fall into a state of high anxiety resulting from the S's expectation of a painful stimulus. The reactions we observe and measure under the condition as such, have a considerably sensitized level of reactivity than those obtained under a resting condition.Complete adaptation, in a true sense, to the instruction of pain-to-come may almost never be expected in this type of experiment.If the instruction of pain-to-come is not given to the S, the matter will become much worse, because the S will lie on a bed with a variety of expectations as to the future of the experiment; some are relaxed and others fearful, as shown in the author's previous study (Miyata, 1961). Therefore, to keep the S's attitude homogeneous at the start of the aversive experiment, instruction to the S is not to be omitted.Thus, the S's " fearfulness-in-the-experimental-situation," if we may be allowed to use Kamin's term (1955), motivated the present study to see how the stress verbally induced during the experiment affects physiological reactions such as salivary outflow, heart rate, and vasomotor activity. And also investigated was the extent to which the physiological changes appearing under the stress are related to the level of experimentally induced tension (EIT), or of anxiety scaled by a manifestanxiety test (MAS).

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The relationships among imaginative, direct verbal, and physiological measures of anxiety in an achievement situation.

Cited by 59 publications

References 11 publications

Psychopathology of Human Adaptation

Psychopathology of Human Adaptation

Perceived Somatic Reactions to Stress and Hostile Press

The Effect of Verbal Stress on Salivary Outflow, Heart Rate, and Vasomotor Activity

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