Abstract
Experiential avoidance is an index of psychological inflexibility linked to psychological difficulties. This article presents data from two experiments that seek to investigate whether the discordance between subjective and physiological responses to emotion-eliciting conditions may indicate different levels of experiential avoidance. Both experiments utilized mental imagery to elicit fear, sadness, joy, relaxation and neutral emotions in young adults, while self-reported emotional arousal and physiological reactivity (heart rate and skin conductance) were measured. Results showed that greater experiential avoidance was predicted by higher physiological reactivity and was associated with lower subjective arousal in negatively-valenced conditions, i.e. fearful and sad, especially when participants had to focus their attention on environmental, vs somatic, stimuli. The discordance in emotional responses, which was linked to experiential avoidance in this study, may be used as an objective measure of experiential avoidance with research and clinical utility.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
