Table Of ContentFOR BETTER OR WORSE? SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND
PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY
BY
DAVID JAMES YORK
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1993
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
thank Anthony Greene, my advisor. He has contributed
I
significantly to my development as a scientist-practitioner
by collaborating on projects of mutual interest, providing
many material resources with which to conduct this project,
and guiding me with optimum levels of constructive
criticism.
I also thank Peter Lang, Margaret Bradley, and Bruce
Cuthbert for their extensive contributions to my development
as a psychophysiological researcher. Despite my shift in
professional orientation, I continue to respect and admire
their rigorous scientific expertise.
additionally thank Hugh Davis, Keith Berg, Rus Bauer,
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and James Algina, all of whom took the time to become
involved in this project, and with whom I have been
especially fortunate to have studied with and learned from.
I thank Samel Celebi for his tutorial in PASCAL and
generous guidance with his hardware troubleshooting skills,
Christine Freeman for performing above and beyond the call
of duty as my research assistant, and Renee Melancon for her
amazing job soliciting and scheduling subjects for this
project.
Finally, I thank my parents, Frank and Susan, who have
provided me with the exceptional support that has allowed me
to achieve aspirations such as this, and my brothers, Greg,
Chris, and Carl for their support and friendship.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURES viii
ABSTRACT ix
CHAPTERS
1 INTRODUCTION 1
Theories of Social Facilitation 2
The Mere Presence Hypothesis 2
Non-Drive Theory Alternatives 5
Drive Theory Alternatives 6
Learning Modulates Social Presence Effects 12
The Psychophysiology of Social Facilitation 15
Arousal is Multifactorial 16
Early Psychophysiological Studies 18
The Reactivity Hypothesis 19
Testing the Reactivity Hypothesis 22
The Startle Blink as a Measure of
Motivational State 24
Experimental Problem 27
Experimental Hypotheses 28
Preexisting Anxiety Levels 28
Verbal Report of Emotion, Safety & Trust... 28
Baseline Levels of Physiological Activity. 29
Phasic Heart Rate Responding 29
iii
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Phasic Skin Conductance Responding 29
Blink Responding to Startle Probes 3
Anagram Performance
3
The Interaction of Preexisting Anxiety
Levels and Social Presence
Conditions 31
METHODS 32
Subjects 32
Apparatus 32
Heart Rate 32
Skin Conductance 32
Startle Blink 33
Stimuli 33
Procedure 34
Data Reduction and Analysis 38
Preexisting Anxiety Levels 38
Verbal Report of Emotion, Safety and Trust. 38
Baseline Levels of Physiological Activity. 39
Phasic Heart Rate Responding 40
Phasic Skin Conductance Responding 40
Blink Responding to Startle Probes 42
Anagram Performance 43
The Interaction of Preexisting Anxiety
Levels and Social Presence Conditions. 44
Manipulation Check 45
IV
.
RESULTS 46
:
Preexisting Anxiety Levels 46
Verbal Report of Emotion, Safety, and Trust 46
Baseline Levels of Physiological Activity 48
Phasic Heart Rate Responding 48
Overall Responding Across Time 48
Differences Among Conditions 50
Phasic Skin Conductance Responding 52
Overall Responding Across Time 52
Differences Among Conditions 54
Blink Responding to Startle Probes 56
Anagram Performance 57
:
The Interaction of Preexisting Anxiety Levels
and Social Presence Conditions 59
Manipulation Check 60
DISCUSSION 61
The Presence of a Friend Increases
Appetitive Motivation 61
The Company of Strangers is Not
Always Aversive 66
A Revised Reactivity Model 68
Implications for the Mere Presence and
Distraction-Conflict Models 69
Implications for the Social Support Construct. 71
.
Physiological Variables as Indices
of Motivation 72
Summary and Conclusion 72
REFERENCES 75
APPENDICES
A ANOVA & ANCOVA TABLES FOR VERBAL RATINGS 81
B ANOVA TABLES FOR BASELINE PHYSIOLOGICAL
ACTIVITY 84
C ANCOVA TABLES FOR PHASIC HEART RATE RESPONDING.. 87
D ANCOVA TABLES FOR PHASIC SKIN CONDUCTANCE
RESPONDING 91
E ANCOVA TABLES FOR BLINK RESPONDING 101
F ANAGRAM SOLUTIONS, MEAN OVERALL ACCURACY,
AND RANKINGS 102
G ANOVA TABLES FOR ANAGRAM ACCURACY 103
H PROCEDURE FOR TESTING THE INTERACTION OF
PREEXISTING ANXIETY LEVELS & SOCIAL
PRESENCE CONDITIONS 105
I INTERVALS BETWEEN ORIENTING & STARTLE STIMULI... Ill
J INSTRUCTIONS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOL 112
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 117
VI
LIST OF TABLES
Page
TABLE 1 Mean Preexisting Anxiety Levels by
Condition 47
TABLE Correlations Between Anxiety Levels
2
and Verbal Ratings 47
TABLE 3 Mean Verbal Ratings by Condition 47
TABLE 4 Skin Conductance Response Frequency
and Amplitude to First Orienting
Tone by Condition 55
TABLE 5 Correlations Between Anxiety and
Physiological Reactivity 59
TABLE 6 Belief Ratings by Condition 60
TABLE 7 Verbal, Physiological, and Performance
Findings 62
VII
.
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
FIGURE 1 Overall Cardiac Responding Across Time.... 49
FIGURE 2 Cardiac Responding to Orienting Tones
by Condition 51
FIGURE 3 Overall SCR Frequency Across Time 53
FIGURE 4 Startle Eyeblink Magnitude by Condition. 56
.
FIGURE 5 Performance Accuracy on Anagram Task 58
vm
Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of
the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
FOR BETTER OR WORSE? SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND
PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY
By
David James York
August, 1993
Chair: Hugh Davis, Ph.D.
Cochair: Anthony F. Greene, Ph.D.
Major Department: Clinical and Health Psychology
Social facilitation describes the enhancement or
impairment of an individual's performance by the simple
presence of other species mates. Recent psychophysiological
studies suggest that previous theories of social
facilitation may represent sufficient but unnecessary
explanations. In light of such findings, investigators have
recently proposed that social facilitation effects are
mediated by increases in physiological reactivity which
occur when the presence of one or more species mates is
perceived as a threat to any valued resource, whether it is
physical or social. This reactivity model also predicts
that physiological responsivity to stressors will be
diminished when the presence of other species mates is
perceived to enhance control over resources. Cardiac,
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electrodermal, and blink responses were measured from
subjects who were either alone, in the presence of a friend,
or in the presence of a stranger while passively waiting to
begin an experiment which they believed might involve mildly
painful radiant heat stimulation. Subjects performed
ratings of emotion, safety and trust, were presented with
two series of acoustic probes designed to elicit orienting
and startle responses, then solved a series of 25 anagrams
which ranged from easy to difficult and served ostensibly as
the experimental task. The presence of a friend produced a
distinct pattern of verbal, physiological and performance
responses that indicated the activation of an appetitive
motivational set. However, the presence of a stranger did
not activate an anxious motivational set. The stranger's
stimulus value may have been modified by the presence of
physical threat or by perceptions of the stranger as
cooperative. These findings are consistent with a modified
reactivity model in which it is hypothesized that the
presence of species mates associated with punishment or
frustration activates an anxious-inhibitory motivational
system, while the presence of species mates associated with
reward or escape from punishment activates an active-
appetitive motivational system.
