The Relationship Between Psychological and Physiological Response to Stress

Abstract

The relationship between physiological and psychological response to stress, and the conditions under which the degree of relationship could be altered were investigated. An intra-individual methodology was employed in which reports of psychological experience were obtained during a stressor film stimulus in a fashion analogous to the continuous measurement of physiological response. The conditions under which Ss made phenomenal reports were systematically varied within a 3 x 24 factorial design. A substantial relationship was obtained between physiological response and psychological experience. The various physiological variables demonstrated differential correspondence to the ratings of psychological impact. The degree of relationship between psychological and physiological response, quantified by multiple regression analyses of the responses of each S, were remarkably stable in the face of the experimental variations introduced in the experiment.