Changing psychobiological stress reactions by manipulating cognitive processes

Abstract

This study aimed at manipulating psychobiological reactions to public speaking stress by means of verbal comments during the anticipation period. Sixty male students were instructed to give a public talk in 10 min. Twenty subjects each were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: During anticipation of the speech the experimenter remained silent in the control condition, gave feedback that the subject was physiologically aroused and nervous in the second (arousing manipulation), or that he was physiologically calm and relaxed in the third condition (reassuring manipulation). Within the three stress conditions heart rate, systolic blood pressure, cortisol, and electrodermal responses were highest in the condition with reassuring manipulation and lowest in the condition without manipulation. Emotional stress reactions were highest in the condition with arousing manipulation and lowest in the condition with reassuring manipulation. Compared to the group without manipulation clear intraindividual discrepancies between emotional and somatic stress reactions could be observed in the group with reassuring manipulation (emotional<somatic arousal) and the group with arousing manipulation (emotional>somatic arousal). The two groups were significantly different in their discrepancy scores. It was concluded that the arousing manipulation seemed to have induced a sensitive, the reassuring manipulation a defensive coping style.