Thought Suppression in Spider-Fearful and Nonfearful Individuals |
| |
| Authors: | Amy Wenzel Tara C. Barth Craig S. Holt |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology , University of North Dakota;2. Department of Psychology , University of Iowa;3. Department of Psychology , Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Iowa |
| |
| Abstract: | The authors examined the suppression of spider-related thoughts in spiderfearful (n = 23) and nonfearful (n = 22) individuals. Participants were primed with vivid pictures of spiders and a story about spiders. Next, they were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) suppression of thoughts associated with the previously presented spiderrelated stimuli or (b) free expression of any thoughts, including those related to the spider-related stimuli. All participants completed a subsequent free-expression exercise. Results indicated that spider-fearful individuals expressed thoughts about the spider-related stimuli for a longer length of time than did nonfearful individuals, particularly in the suppression condition. Participants in both groups demonstrated a rebound of thoughts associated with the spider-related stimuli following suppression. The authors propose that the priming of feared stimuli makes suppression of fear-related thoughts particularly difficult for fearful individuals, perhaps by activating a state of heightened arousal. |
| |
| Keywords: | anxiety fear spider phobia thought suppression |
|
|
