ABSTRACT
Participants were mailed standardized questionnaires to bring completed to the experimental session. After the physiological equipment was attached, the participant was engaged in general conversation to ensure that the skin conductance level was settled before proceeding. To test hypotheses about observer-rated emotions and self-reported suppression, ANCOVA with group and condition were conducted, followed by planned comparisons. Age and ethnicity were entered as covariates in the General Linear Model. Repeated-measures analyses of variance were conducted to investigate mean skin conductance before and during the task by group and condition (suppression and expression), covarying for age and ethnicity. ANOVAs were conducted to investigate observer ratings of total number of emotions and mean emotional intensity by group and condition, co-varying for age and ethnicity. The increased anxiety may reflect the challenging nature of the task. It may also reflect the paradoxical increase in the distressing thoughts and emotions that can occur as a result of suppression.
