Arousal and Attribution

Abstract

To study the effects of one's cognitive attribution of his emotional state on his experienced arousal, Ss were exposed to an unpleasant noise and told either that it might lead to physiological arousal symptoms or that it might cause non-arousal symptoms. While listening to the noise they rated the attractiveness of slides of either semi-nude females or landscapes, along with the unpleasantness of the noise, their belief about common effects of noise pollution and their current physiological state. No meaningful effects of viewing the pictures were found, apparently because the semi-nude pictures were not in fact very arousing. However, Ss reported beliefs about common side-effects of noise pollution were related both to the attribution-manipulation and to the symptoms they experienced. These results suggested that a person's expectations do indeed affect his experience of arousal.