Year: 2004
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to examine whether innate temperament and an individual's sense of vital exhaustion were associated with emotional and physiological reactions during laboratory induced stress among 95 healthy men (n = 49) and women (n = 46) aged 22-37 years.Gray`s temperament theory was used to define behavioral inhibition system (BIS) sensitivity and behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity.We measured heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and pre-ejection period during an aversive startle probe, an appetitive mental arithmetic task, an aversive reaction time task, and a speech task.Larsen and Diener's circumplex model of affect was used to structure the self-reported affects.Results revealed that BAS sensitivity was related to heart rate reactivity and parasympathetic withdrawal during the tasks, but was unrelated to baseline levels.In addition, BAS sensitivity was generally associated with pleasant affects, with an especially large increase of Activated pleasant affect during the appetitive mental arithmetic task.On the other hand, BIS sensitivity was associated with unpleasant affects, with a especially great increase of Activated unpleasant affect during aversive tasks.BIS sensitivity was unrelated to both reactivity and baseline levels of cardiac measures.The results for feelings of exhaustion showed that the level of vital exhaustion among healthy persons is related to unpleasant state affects (other than Unactivated unpleasant affect) and to parasympathetic withdrawal.Temperament also modified the association of vital exhaustion with affects and physiological reactions.In addition, vital exhaustion was related to a tendency to behavioral inhibition (harm avoidance).Overall, our results suggest that temperament and sense of exhaustion are associated with physiological and emotional reactions during acute stress and should thus be taken into account in stress management.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Tarja Heponiemi
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Helsingin Yliopisto
OpenAlex ID: W2746054770