OCR Text |
Show 103 college of social & behavioral science Researchers studying emotions often use film clips to elicit emotion experimentally. Film clips offer several advantages, including standardization and convenience of presentation. One empirical ques-tion is whether emotion elicitation using film clips will have the same effect across personality types. It is possible that specific personality traits will be associated with distinct patterns of psychophysi-ological responding. Many studies have explored temperament and character traits in connection with neurobiological constructs. Similarly, psychophysiological measures can enhance our understanding of underlying personality traits. The present study explored the relation between one measure of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responding-electrodermal activity (EDA)-and the personality construct of harm avoidance (HA). High HA is related to anxiety, worry, pessimism, and shyness. To date, 239 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have viewed film clips targeting several discrete emotions. For this project, we measured physiological responses during fear elicitation and then scored the number of electroder-mal responses. Participants also completed the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI), which assesses HA. Previous research suggests that higher levels of HA is related to greater SNS activ-ity to emotional stimuli. We hypothesized that higher harm avoidance would elicit a greater SNS activity as measured by electrodermal responses. We found that harm avoidance predicted EDA in women, but not in men (see Figure 1). This is consistent with previous research suggesting that women are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders. Figure 1: Electrodermal responses to fear induction for female and male participants who are low or high on harm avoidance. Electrodermal Responses × Sex × Harm Avoidance F(2, 36) = 1.95; p = .04 Fear response for women F(1, 64) = 5.45; p < .05 Fear response for men F(1, 25) = 2.49; p > 1.0 DOES TRAIT HARM AVOIDANCE CORRELATE WITH PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICES OF ANXIETY? Erik Hansen (Sheila Crowell) Department of Psychology University of Utah UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ABSTRACTS Erik Hansen Sheila Crowell |