Intrinsic motivation and psychological stress.

Abstract

"Three issues were explored experimentally in this study...the proposition that the arousal of a state of stress depends upon intrinsic motive states in the individual as well as the nature of the stressor conditions...the proposal...that stress would tend to improve sensory-motor output and impair conceptual performance on the basis of different amounts of interference... the importance of the S''s past history of success or failure in a particular motivational direction in determining whether a stress state would be aroused." 15 refs.