The influence of physical stress on response to and resolution of emotional ambiguity
Cantelon, Julie.
2019
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Individuals with high stress jobs (e.g. law enforcement or military
personnel) are often tasked with quickly interpreting ambiguous information in
order to guide appropriate action. While certain social cues are clear (happy
facial expression), others are ambiguous as they do not clearly signal whether an
individual feels positive or negative (surprised facial expression) and could be
interpreted ... read moreas either safe or threatening. Previous work has demonstrated shifts
in valence bias of ambiguous facial expressions occurs during acute emotional
stress states. However, the influence of physical stress on valence bias, or
tendency to interpret ambiguity as positive or negative, remains unexplored. Here
we examined whether moderate and high levels of physical stress influenced
interpretation and resolution of emotional ambiguity. Forty-eight young adults (29
females, ages 18-35) who engaged in regular exercise, completed 40-minutes of
steady-state cycling at moderate (65% Heart Rate Reserve, HRR) and high (85% HRR)
exercise intensities on two separate days. They completed measures of perceived
exertion, affect and arousal, then rated a series of ambiguous (surprised) faces
as positive or negative when presented alone, or in context. Physiological
response and emotional state significantly differed between moderate and high
intensity conditions (all p's < .001). However, there were no significant
differences in valence bias, or ability to use contextual cues to resolve
ambiguity of surprise between conditions (ps > .1). Importantly, even slight
shifts might alter if information is perceived as safe vs. threatening. Thus,
individual differences factors that may have affected interpretation of ambiguous
social cues during physical stress are discussed.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Psychology.
Advisor: Robin Kanarek.
Committee: Nathan Ward, and F. Caroline Davis.
Keywords: Psychology, and Cognitive psychology.read less - ID:
- sf268j18v
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