Abstract

The present study examined differences in affective response and cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) in 42 women who were exposed to one of two harassment protocols; (i) Self-Harass, where participants were themselves harassed during a math task, (ii) Friend-Harass, where participants observed the harassment of a close female friend while the friend engaged in a math task. Whereas the former represents a traditional harassment protocol involving criticism of the participant's instrumental performance, the latter involves observing an attack on a significant other. Due to the social pressure placed on women to not express their anger, and because it may be considered socially appropriate to express anger in defense of a significant other, it was hypothesized that experiencing anger during harassment of the self would create feelings of discomfort in women, and that this discomfort would lead to greater elevations in CVR in Self-Harass as compared to Friend-Harass participants. The results of the present study offered support for this hypothesis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)