Patsy Tremayne

Repressive defensiveness and trait anxiety effects in an orienting task with a manipulation of embarrassment

Abstract Tonic and phasic indices of electrodermal and cardiovascular activity were obtained from competitive female gymnasts differing in defensive repressiveness and trait anxiety. A typical orienting response paradigm was employed with subjects being required for one session containing two conditions differing in manipulated anxiety/embarrassment level. The relative size of the anxiety and repression effects are discussed in relation to the utility of the repression concept in this context. Although there was a range of physiological effects associated with group differences in repression, these were smaller than those associated with differences in trait anxiety. Nevertheless, in elite sport, there is a great emphasis on psychological parameters that might serve to enhance performance, even if such enhancements are relatively slight. Such effects as noted here may not be inconsequential for those individuals who characteristically use repression as a way of dealing with unpleasant, negative experiences.

Applied orienting response research: some examples.

The development of orienting response (OR) theory has not been accompanied by many applications of the concept—most research still appears to be lab-based and “pure,” rather than “applied.” We present some examples from our own work in which the OR perspective has been applied in a wider context. These cover the exploration of processing deficits in autistic children, aspects of the “repression” of anxiety in elite athletes, and the locus of alcohol effects. Such applications of the OR concept in real-life situations seem a logical and, indeed,necessary step in the evolution of this area of psychophysiology.