Type of information, familiarity, and the reduction of crowding stress.

Abstract

Two studies focused on the effectiveness of various types of information in different contexts. Two informational foci (i.e., external and internal) were employed, and subjects were either familiar or unfamiliar with a potentially stressful setting. It was assumed that one's degree of familiarity with the context would render different types of concerns more salient and that these would more effectively be met by one type of information than by the other. In the first experiment, it was hypothesized and found that situational information was more effective than emotional information for unfamiliar subjects, whose primary concerns in the setting were external. In contrast, emotional information was effective in reducing stress and facilitating performance for familiar subjects, whose concerns were primarily internal; but situational information was also effective for these individuals. Study 2 was done to explore why situational information was effective in reducing stress for both familiar and unfamiliar individuals. The results indicated that situational information, if accurate, not only can serve a reinforcing "consensual validation" function that addresses people's general concerns about the "reasonableness" of their responses but can also reduce distress.