Emotional responses to world inequality

Drawing on discussions with Kenyan, Mexican and British teachers, this paper reports on emotional responses to international socio-economic inequality. Emotional regimes are explored to identify what ‘appropriate’ responses to inequality are in a variety of local and national contexts. These include rural and urban settings, and social milieus ranging from elite to deprived. Politeness, hand-wringing and humour can create a protective distance; while sadness, anger and hope for change connect with the issue of inequality and challenge the associated injustices. Distancing and connecting emerge as central themes in the analysis. The spatial patterns of emotions align with participants' socio-economic positions, in more disadvantaged settings unapologetic anger about inequality was expressed, as was humour in the face of group or national misfortune. These emotional regimes can be understood within the wider context of participants' socio-economic position; their senses of injustice; and their views on the possibility of social change. I argue that social norms surrounding justice and distribution can influence levels of inequality, and vice versa. This is of particular importance given the societal damage caused by inequality, which is now widely acknowledged.     

Suffering from the possibility of status loss: Physiological responses to social identity threat in high status groups

In this research, we examine the emergence of social identity threat among members of high status groups, by assessing physiological responses to threat in addition to more traditional (self‐report) measures. We argue that physiological measures are better suited than explicit responses to indicate the emergence of social identity threat when high status groups face the possibility of future group status loss. In Experiment 1, members of an experimentally created high status group displayed higher systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse pressure (PP) when inter‐group status differences were unstable than when they were stable, even though participants in both conditions reported identical levels of collective self‐esteem. In Experiment 2, only male participants (i.e., high status group members) displayed increased SBP and PP when discussing changing gender–status relations in society, particularly when this happened in an inter‐group context (i.e., when discussing with females). The increased threat that emerged under these conditions could not be inferred from self‐reported inter‐group perceptions (endorsement of sexism). We conclude that whereas self‐report measures can help assess how high status group members perceive the current inter‐group situation, physiological measures are needed to reveal the social identity threat they experience when they anticipate the possibility for future change in inter‐group relations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conceptualizations of responses to stress

The article presents the concepts and methodologies used in a series of studies on responses to stress in different areas of life and in different age and social groups. The studies described include findings of the Bonn Longitudinal Study of Aging and several studies on reactions to stress, e.g. coping with chronic disease and other distressing life situations. The discussion of the empirical findings presented focuses on the concept of ‘response hierarchy’ and its possibilities for examining consistency in reactions to stress across time and different situations. The data presented emphasize the need for a process-centred view on stress and responding to stress in the context of a cognitive theory of personality comprehending the individual and her/his world as an undivisible dynamic unit.     

Physiological responses in blood phobics

Eighteen patients with blood phobia were shown a film of thoracic operations containing large amounts of blood. Their heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were measured continuously before, during and after the watching of the film. The group data showed a diphasic response; an increase in HR and BP from baseline to the beginning of the film, and then a sharp drop in these parameters with the lowest values 4 min after the film was turned off. Individual data from 5 patients who fainted or were on the edge of doing so, showed massive bradycardia or drop in BP or both. In all of these patients at least one (range 1–33) 5-sec period of asystole was recorded. Possible theoretical explanations for this characteristic response pattern are discussed.     

Physiological responses of obese subjects to external stimuli

Physiological arousal was measured in 11 obese and 11 normal-weight subjects during presentation of emotive, food, and neutral stimuli. No differential arousal (heart rate, temperature, GSR, and EMG on frontalis muscle) between the groups was obtained for any of the three types of stimuli. Discrepancies between the present findings and earlier results are discussed.     

Assessing women's responses to sexual threat: validity of a virtual role-play procedure

This study evaluated the validity of a role-play procedure that uses virtual reality technology to assess women's responses to sexual threat. Forty-eight female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either a standard, face-to-face role-play (RP) or a virtual role-play (VRP) of a sexually coercive situation. A multimethod assessment strategy was used to evaluate the efficacy of the role-play procedure in creating a realistic and immersive situation. Consistent with our hypotheses, women in the VRP condition exhibited greater negative affect and immersion than women in the RP condition. In addition, the level of assertive refusal in the VRP, but not the RP, condition differentiated between women with and without a prior history of sexual victimization. These findings provide evidence of the validity of a virtual role-play procedure for assessing women's responses in sexually threatening situations.     

Psychosocial stress evoked by a virtual audience: relation to neuroendocrine activity.

A modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was employed to determine whether exposure to a virtual audience using virtual reality (VR) technology would prompt an increase of neuroendocrine activity comparable to that prompted by a real audience. Following an anticipatory period, participants completed a speech or a speech-plus-math challenge in front of either a virtual audience, a panel of judges they were led to believe was behind a one-way mirror, or an audience comprised of confederates. An additional group that had prepared a speech was simply directed to observe the virtual audience but did not deliver the speech. Finally, a control group completed questionnaires for the duration of the experiment. Cortisol samples were obtained upon arrival to the laboratory, just before the challenge, and 15 and 30 minutes after the task. Participants also completed a measure assessing stressor appraisals of the task before and after the challenge. Anticipation of the task was associated with a modest increase of cortisol levels, and a further rise of cortisol was evident in response to the challenge. The neuroendocrine changes evoked by the virtual audience were comparable to those elicited by the imagined audience (behind the one-way mirror) but less than changes evoked by the panel of confederates. Stressor appraisals were higher post-challenge compared to those reported prior to the task; however, appraisals were similar across each group. These data suggest that VR technology may be amenable to evaluating the impact of psychosocial stressors such as the TSST.     

Examining the validity of the family investment and stress models and relationship to children's school readiness across five cultural groups

Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) dataset, this study examined whether the family investment and the family stress models generalized to non-European American (EA) families. Specifically, we examined whether parenting processes mediated the association between family demographics and children's school readiness, and whether the pathways vary across cultural groups. Both models were most salient for EAs followed by African Americans (AAs) and Spanish-speaking Hispanics, but less so for English-speaking Hispanics (EHs) and Asian Americans. Findings indicated that sensitive parenting was a salient mediator between family demographics and children's school readiness for all groups except EHs; negative parenting and parent-child activities were salient mediators for EAs only.     

Attentional and behavioural responses of spider fearfuls to virtual spiders

This study employed an immersed virtual environment (IVE) in the Nijmegen RIVERlab to study spider fearfuls’ attentional and motor reactions to virtual spiders. The participants were exposed to virtual spiders while completing an unrelated task, walking freely through a virtual museum. Compared to non-fearful controls, spider fearfuls showed an increase in state anxiety, they spent more time looking at spiders, and they exhibited spontaneous behavioural avoidance of spiders and visually similar objects. The results extend, and to some degree contradict, those of earlier studies with static pictures, and they speak to the usefulness of state-of-the-art IVEs in fundamental anxiety research.     

Effects of imagined stress intensity on responses in a stress coping inventory

We investigated whether and how different imagined stress intensities modify responses in a stress coping inventory, the SVF78. In the original non-specific version of the test, subjects just decide for each item how probable the reaction presented corresponds to his or her way of reacting, when he/she is “…disturbed, irritated or upset by something or someone...”. We compared this non-specific version of the SVF78 with three intensity variants containing reformulations of the introductory instruction: “When I am disturbed, irritated, or upset to a low degree/considerable degree/very high degree [italics added] by something or someone...”. Each subject filled in the non-specific version and two of the three intensity variants according to a balanced permutation design. Results showed good internal consistency as well as split-half-reliability for all subtests. The factorial structure was similar for the non-specific and the considerable- and high-intensity versions, but altered for the low-intensity version. The mean values changed monotonically with imagined stress intensity for some, but not all of the subtests of the SVF78, with the non-specific version matching best with the considerable-intensity level. It can be concluded that coping questionnaires like the one used in this study, based on a dispositional approach and asking for the normal way of reacting in stressful situations, are valid for a certain range of stress intensities mostly covering the considerable range of the intensity dimension.     

Exposure to intergroup conspiracy theories promotes prejudice which spreads across groups

This research experimentally examined the effects of exposure to intergroup conspiracy theories on prejudice and discrimination. Study 1 (N = 166) demonstrated that exposure to conspiracy theories concerning immigrants to Britain from the European Union (vs. anti-conspiracy material or a control) exacerbated prejudice towards this group. Study 2 (N = 173) found the same effect in a different intergroup context – exposure to conspiracy theories about Jewish people (vs. anti-conspiracy material or a control) increased prejudice towards this group and reduced participants’ willingness to vote for a Jewish political candidate. Finally, Study 3 (N = 114) demonstrated that exposure to conspiracy theories about Jewish people not only increased prejudice towards this group but was indirectly associated with increased prejudice towards a number of secondary outgroups (e.g., Asians, Arabs, Americans, Irish, Australians). The current research suggests that conspiracy theories may have potentially damaging and widespread consequences for intergroup relations.     

Predictors of responses to stress among families coping with poverty-related stress

This study tested how poverty-related stress (PRS), psychological distress, and responses to stress predicted future effortful coping and involuntary stress responses one year later. In addition, we explored age, sex, ethnicity, and parental influences on responses to stress over time. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses conducted with 98 low-income families (300 family members: 136 adults, 82 school-aged children, 82 adolescents) revealed that primary control coping, secondary control coping, disengagement, involuntary engagement, and involuntary disengagement each significantly predicted future use of that response. Primary and secondary control coping also predicted less maladaptive future responses to stress, while involuntary responses to stress undermined the development of adaptive responding. Age, sex, and interactions among PRS and prior coping were also found to predict certain responses to stress. In addition, child subgroup analyses demonstrate the importance of parental modeling of coping and involuntary stress responses, and warmth/nurturance and monitoring practices. Results are discussed with regard to the implications for preventive interventions with families in poverty.     

Altered grooming responses to stress in rats exposed prenatally to ethanol

The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on grooming, locomotion, and rearing in response to stress were examined in adult rats whose mothers consumed a liquid diet containing 35% ethanol-derived calories (EDC). Offspring of both pair-fed 0% EDC mothers and ad libitum chow-fed mothers were included as controls. In Experiment 1, females groomed more than males following placement into a novel test chamber, but no differences due to prenatal treatment were observed. Ethanol-exposed animals groomed more than controls following the stress of a forced 1-min swim (Experiment 2), but when rats tested in Experiment 1 were observed again after forced swim stress (Experiment 3), no differences due to prenatal treatment or sex were observed. Experiment 4 examined the effects of pretreatment with 1 mg/kg naloxone on novelty-induced grooming and as in Experiment 1 prenatal treatment did not affect grooming responses. Females again groomed significantly more than males and naloxone reduced grooming equally for all groups. The results suggest that novelty-induced grooming is a sex-influenced behavior, with females grooming more than males, and that animals exposed prenatally to alcohol and tested as adults may have altered responses to certain stressors (i.e., forced swim) under specific conditions. The altered grooming response of alcohol-exposed rats to swim stress can be eliminated by preexposing them to novelty stress.     

Maternal influences on youth responses to peer stress

Understanding how youths develop particular styles of responding to stress is critical for promoting effective coping. This research examined the prospective, interactive contribution of maternal socialization of coping and peer stress to youth responses to peer stress. A sample of 144 early adolescents (mean age = 12.44 years, SD = 1.22) and their maternal caregivers completed questionnaires and semistructured interviews in 2 waves over a 1-year period. Results revealed that mothers' disengagement coping suggestions predicted maladaptive responses to stress, particularly for youths who received low levels of engagement suggestions, and engagement coping suggestions protected youths against maladaptive responses to stress. Importantly, these effects emerged only in the context of heightened peer stress. This research suggests that maternal socialization of coping has the potential to support or undermine youths' development of an effective repertoire of responses to stress.     

Terrorism and cardiovascular responses to acute stress in children.

A number of studies have considered whether background stress affects cardiovascular responses to acute stress tasks. The present study considers the effect of a potent background stressor with a clear onset, namely the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Specifically, the authors investigated differences among 9.5-year-old children tested before (N = 30) and then following (N = 20) the 9/11 attacks. In addition, a majority of these children (N = 37) were retested approximately 1 year later (i.e., before and after 9/11/2002). Children tested directly following 9/11/2001 exhibited significantly greater stroke volume and cardiac output responses to acute stress tasks compared with their responses 1 year later, and this change in reactivity differed significantly from the change in reactivity exhibited by children tested before 9/11/2001 and again 1 year later. These results suggest that a potent background stressor can temporarily heighten some children's cardiovascular responses to subsequent acute stressors.     

Physiological anxiety responses in transcendental meditators and nonmeditators

In Exp. I, the spontaneous GSR of seven Transcendental Meditators and seven nonmeditators was measured in a sequence of five conditions: stress (shock avoidance)--rest--meditation (meditators) or rest/eyes closed (nonmeditators)--stress (shock avoidance)--rest. In Exp. II, the spontaneous GSR of a similar group of subjects was measured in a sequence of three conditions: rest--meditation or rest/eyes closed--rest. Analysis of variance did not yield significant differences between meditators and nonmeditators although analysis did verify that the shock-avoidance task effectively produced anxiety. It was concluded that Transcendental Meditation is not an effective means of reducing autonomic responses to stress under the present testing conditions.     

Neuroendocrine responses to psychological stress in eumenorrheic and oligomenorrheic women

Neuroendocrine adaptive responses to psychological stress include activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and sometimes suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. In women who experience chronic stress, these responses are probably responsible for disturbances in the menstrual cycle. In the present experiment, we investigated the effect of an acutely stressful situation on the physiological and neuroendocrine responses in college age women. We hypothesized that females who are experiencing some degree of abnormal menstrual function or women who have less-robust cycles (oligomenorrheic females) would exhibit differences in gonadotropin secretion from eumenorrheic females when exposed to psychological stressors. Fifteen women completed this study: eumenorrheic (n = 5) and oligomenorrheic women (n = 5) who experienced a series of psychological stressors, and eumenorrheic controls (n = 5). Blood samples were taken at 10 min intervals for 8 h (09:00-17:00) in each woman during the mid-follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. The psychological stressors were administered for 1 h beginning at 13:00 h. Luteinizing hormone (LH), growth hormone (GH) and cortisol were measured in each sample to assess the effect of stress on secretion of these hormones. Deconvolution analysis was used to analyze pulsatile hormone secretion and the approximate entropy (ApEn) statistic analyzed the regularity of release of each hormone. Although, there were significant changes in heart rate (HR), skin resistance (SR) and cortisol levels in the stressed women during the psychological stressor compared to resting baseline values but not in the controls, there was no difference in either LH or GH secretion between women who experienced stress and those who did not. Furthermore, there were no differences in the LH or GH secretion patterns in the oligomenorrheic and eumenorrheic women exposed to the psychological stressor.