Experimental Investigation of the Specificity of Attitude Hypothesis in Psychosomatic Disease

Abstract

A specificity of attitude hypothesis, developed originally from the clinical study of patients with various psychosomatic diseases, was tested experimentally by suggesting attitudes to normal subjects and measuring concomitant changes in skin temperature of the hand. The hypothesis states that each attitude toward a disturbing situation is associated with its own specific disease or set of physiological changes. Subjects were hypnotized as an aid in inducing the desired attitudes and were told to assume the attitudes the original study had found to be associated with hives and with Raynaud's disease. Since rise of skin temperature is related to the development of hives and fall in skin temperature is part of Raynaud's disease, it was predicted that skin temperature would rise with the hives attitude and fall with the Raynaud's attitude. After elimination of experiments in which the subject's skin showed marked cooling before the experiment proper began, there remained for evaluation a total of 22 experimental sessions involving 8 subjects and 41 separate attitude, suggestions. The hives attitude was suggested on 23 occasions. Averaging all responses to these suggestions produced a curve that after a preliminary fall showed a steady rise in temperature. The Raynaud's attitude was suggested on 18 occasions. Averaging all responses to these suggestions produced a curve that showed a steady fall in temperature. The difference between the temperature responses to the two suggestions was statistically significant. The temperatures during the attitude periods reached points significantly different from the last control temperature. This occurred sooner with Raynaud's than with hives, because of the necessity for overcoming the initial drop in the latter. The evaluation of individual experiments in terms of the change in slope of the temperature curve in the attitude period as compared with the control period (acceleration produced by the hives suggestion, deceleration produced by the Raynaud's suggestion) showed a statistically significant difference between the hives and Raynaud's suggestions, even when the experiments rejected because of the pre-experimental skin cooling were included in the analysis. Covariance analysis showed that the effects obtained were independent of the temperatures during the control periods. Correlation with available cardiovascular data suggests that the pre-experimental skin cooling was part of an “anxiety” response. The results of the experiment are in conformity with the predictions of the “specificity of attitude” hypothesis.