Physiological
responses can offer researchers key insights into the mental state of their
participants. Whereas human subjects can lie or misreport their emotions on a
self-report questionnaire, their physiological signals show the actual
truth. A quick rise in the recording
indicates a change in the subject’s emotions whether it be fear, anger, or
shame. Most studies concerning emotion shifts rely on heart rate data stemming
from ECG analysis and recording to see a participant’s reactions to the experimenters’ tests.
It is widely agreed that this is the true information that the analysis of the
ECG signal proves or disproves the study’s hypothesis. What if by simply
reporting on the emotion the researcher in fact influences changes in the
physiological response? That is what researchers Karim Kassam and Wendy Berry
Mendes sought to find out. They hypothesized that the awareness and conscious
assessment required by an individual for self-reporting of emotion may
significantly alter emotional processes. The researchers gathered one hundred
and twelve paid participants to take a series of tests designed to either induce
anger or shame (any individuals’ with depression or anxiety were excluded from
the study). Human subjects were either put into the anger, shame, or control
group and split by whether they were required to report their emotions during
the exam or not.
Their physiological responses (heart rate, impedance
cardiography, cardiac output) were recorded using a BIOPAC MP150 Data Acquisition research system connected with
an ECG amplifier. The researchers found that in the anger group that
participant’s exhibited different physiological responses from those who were
not required to report. The shame condition however, seemed to show no
significant difference between the two groups (reporting and not reporting).
This study suggests that the act of reporting may have a substantial impact on
the body’s action to emotional situations. The data seems to point that
individuals who are provoked (anger) are likely to exhibit different
physiological responses when reporting. The knowledge that they will have to
explain their heightened emotions brings a rationale to an otherwise irrational
behavior. Shame on the other hand causes individuals to ruminate or
self-reflect, which would explain the little difference between the two
groups.
