Psychophysiological effects of emotional display rules and the moderating role of trait anger in a simulated call center.

In customer interactions, emotional display rules typically prescribe service providers to suppress negative emotions and display positive ones. This study investigated the causal impact of these emotional display rules on physiological indicators of workers' stress and performance. Additionally, the moderating influence of personality was examined by analyzing the impact of trait anger. In a simulated call center, 82 females were confronted with a complaining customer and instructed to react either authentically and show their true emotions or to "serve with a smile" and hide negative emotions. Increases in diastolic blood pressure and heart rates were higher in the smile condition, while verbal fluency was lower. Trait anger moderated the effects on diastolic blood pressure and observer ratings' of participants' professional competence, suggesting more negative effects for high trait anger individuals. Findings imply that emotional display rules may increase call center employees' strain and that considering employees' personality may be crucial for precluding health and performance impairments among call center workers.

Psychophysiological effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction.

Current research demonstrates that requirements to express emotions which are not genuinely felt in the particular situation (emotional dissonance) are associated with negative long and short-term effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate: (a) the psychophysiological short-term effects of emotional dissonance in a face-to-face service interaction and (b) the moderating role of gender and neuroticism. In total, 32 women and 27 men were instructed to play the role of a service employee, who had to interact with an angry and rude customer. Half of the sample was given information that the organization expected them to be friendly (emotional dissonance), the other half was told they were expected to act naturally and show their genuine feelings (no emotional dissonance). Subjective and behavioral responses revealed that participants in the "friendly" condition modulated their emotional expressions to a greater extent than those in the "naturally" condition. Participants in the "friendly" condition showed stronger systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses yielded that gender and neuroticism partly moderated the association between emotional dissonance and participants' psychophysiological response.

Emotion regulation, disgust sensitivity, and psychophysiological responses to a disgust-inducing film.

Using a disgust-inducing film, Gross (1998) showed that the instruction to suppress mimic expression (suppression) triggered physiological arousal, while the instruction to think about the film in order to adopt a detached and unemotional attitude (reappraisal) reduced affective strain compared to a condition instructing subjects simply to watch the film (watch). The present paper investigates, if disgust sensitivity has a moderating role in this context. Physiological, subjective, and behavior responses were recorded in 120 males divided according to high/low disgust sensitivity who were exposed to the disgust-inducing film used by Gross. The instruction effects reported by Gross could not be replicated. However, high disgust-sensitive subjects were more physiologically and emotionally aroused than low disgust-sensitive subjects. Interactions between disgust sensitivity and the three film instructions can possibly be traced back to a repressive coping style of subjects with low disgust sensitivity.

Assessment of environmental worry in health-related settings: Re-evaluation and modification of an environmental worry scale.

The aim of this article was to re-evaluate and possibly modify the standardized Environmental Worry Scale (EWS) by Hodapp et al. [1996. Evaluation eines Fragebogens zur Erfassung von Umweltbesorgnis. Z. Gesundheitspsychologie IV(1), 22-36] with regard to its content and structure. In order to do this, 161 participants were chosen as a reference group to take part in a survey. The data were analyzed and a factor analysis yielded two instead of one component of worry, namely "personal" and "general" environmental worry, leading to a new evaluation method. This revised evaluation method was then applied to patients (n=227) with or without self-reported multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and thus used in the context of reported health complaints. The outlined results indicate that the assessment of worry as proposed by Hodapp et al. [1996. Evaluation eines Fragebogens zur Erfassung von Umweltbesorgnis. Z. Gesundheitspsychologie IV(1), 22-36] should be elaborated by the newly developed evaluation method with which a ratio determined by "personal" and "general" worry can be calculated. In addition to analyzing the absolute quantity of worry, the calculated ratio allows to draw conclusions on the structure of worry. It will be discussed to what extent the results present new insights into the role of worry among patients suffering from environmental diseases.

[The distressed personality (type D)--correlations with anger, aggression and hostility]. / Die "Distressed Personality" (Typ D)--Zusammenhänge mit Arger, Aggression und Feindseligkeit.

Type D (distressed personality) comprises the joint tendency to experience negative emotions (negative affectivity) and to inhibit these emotions in social situations (social inhibition). The distressed personality can be assessed by the Type D scale (DS14). In the present study, the German version of the DS14 was to be validated especially with regard to its interrelation with anger, aggression and hostility. The study included a clinical sample of 90 patients with coronary heart disease and a nonclinical sample of 86 participants. The two-factor structure of the DS14 could be confirmed in both samples. As expected, the subscale negative affectivity correlates highly with neuroticism; the subscale social inhibition correlates highly with extraversion. Negative affectivity also relates to almost every anger and aggression scale applied in this study. Participants classified as Type D report higher anger experience than non-Type D-classified persons. They show both heightened anger-in and anger-out and encounter others with more cynicism and hostility. It seems promising to provide special psychological treatment for these patients.

Decomposing person and occasion-specific effects: an extension of latent state-trait (LSI) theory to hierarchical LST models.

An extension of latent state-trait (LST) theory to hierarchical LST models is presented. In hierarchical LST models, the covariances between 2 or more latent traits are explained by a general 3rd-order factor, and the covariances between latent state residuals pertaining to different traits measured on the same measurement occasion are explained by 2nd-order latent occasion-specific factors. Analogous to recent developments in multitrait-multimethod methodology, all factors are interpreted in relation to factors taken as comparison standards. An empirical example from test anxiety research illustrates how estimates of additive variance components due to general trait, specific trait, occasion, state residual, method, and measurement error can be obtained using confirmatory factor analysis. Advantages and limitations of these models are discussed.

Effects of choir singing or listening on secretory immunoglobulin A, cortisol, and emotional state.

The present study investigates the effects of choir music on secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA), cortisol, and emotional states in members of a mixed amateur choir. Subjects participated in two conditions during two rehearsals 1 week apart, namely singing versus listening to choral music. Saliva samples and subjective measures of affect were taken both before each session and 60 min later. Repeated measure analyses of variance were conducted for positive and negative affect scores, S-IgA, and cortisol. Results indicate several significant effects. In particular, singing leads to increases in positive affect and S-IgA, while negative affect is reduced. Listening to choral music leads to an increase in negative affect, and decreases in levels of cortisol. These results suggest that choir singing positively influences both emotional affect and immune competence. The observation that subjective and physiological responses differed between listening and singing conditions invites further investigation of task factors.

Investigación psicofisiológica de la ira / Psychophysiological research on anger

Este artículo se centra específicamente en la emoción de la ira y en el estudio de las respuestas psicoisiológicas asociadas a esta emoción básica. El presente estudio se diseñó con el objeto de comparar las respuestas cardiovasculares durante una tarea de afrontamiento activo y la emoción de ira, manipulando independiente estas dos condiciones. Para evaluar los mecanismos hemodinámicos de la reactividad cardiovascular durante la tarea de afrontamiento activo y la ira se utilizó la cardiografia de impedancia. Participaron en el estudio 63 estudiantes varones de entre 20 y 51 años. Durante el primer periodo de tratamiento, un grupo se dedicó a una tarea de esfuerzo de afrontamiento activo (tarea de aritmética mental) y otro grupo no (tarea de lectura). Durante el segundo período de tratamiento, ambos grupos se dividieron de dos subgrupos, la mitad de los sujetos de cada grupo fueron sometidos a provocación. La conclusión principal de los resultados del presente estudio es que la ira tiene un notable impacto sobre el funcionamiento cardiovascular. El estudio de otros parámetros cardiovasculares mediante la cardiografia de impedancia contribuyen al conocimiento de los mecanismos implicados en el aumento diferencial de las presiones sanguíneas (AU)

Acculturation and cardiovascular reactivity of second-generation Turkish migrants in Germany.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have shown that migration and acculturation lead to higher blood pressures and a higher prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Heightened cardiovascular reactivity is considered as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine cardiovascular reactivity in young and healthy second-generation Turkish migrants to Germany. METHOD: Forty-one Turkish and 20 German male students worked on a mental arithmetic task for 6 min and underwent the cold pressor test for 90 s. Heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were taken in intervals of 2 min at baseline and during task periods. Stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), preejection period (PEP), and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were registered continuously by impedance cardiography. The Turkish volunteers were divided into weak and advanced acculturated migrants based on self-ratings given in a questionnaire. RESULTS: Advanced acculturated Turkish students showed greater HR and CO increases and greater PEP and TPR decreases to the mental arithmetic task than Germans or weak acculturated Turkish students. No group differences were found for the cold pressor test. CONCLUSION: Migrants' acculturation is associated with an enhanced beta-adrenergic activation pattern of the sympathetic nervous system that might put them at greater risk with regards to essential hypertension and coronary heart disease.