Impression Management, Selbsttäuschung, Challenge und Threat: Psychobiologische Indikatoren von sozialem Stress bei Repressern und Defensiven

The conception of repressors by Weinberger (1990) sees them as persons, who do not like to confront their own emotions, especially negative ones. In stressful situations, they exhibit physiological arousal, which, in Weinbergers model, is interpreted as sign of anxiety, even though repressors report experiencing less anxiety in those situations. Newer findings about repressors come to different conclusions. EEG-studies suggest left-frotal activation in repressors, indication approach-motivation and not defensive coping. Also, repressors do not always function as self-deceivers, but sometimes more as strong impression managers. This dissertation tries to develop an integrated model of repression and defensiveness in social contexts in which repressors are thought of as being challenged and not threatened by social stressors. Since social situations are for one extremely relevant to repressors and repressors also feel competent to resolve social situations to their favour, a challenge-reaction, an emotional challenge-reaction should be visible in them. To find empirical basis for the integrated model, repressors as well as low-anxious, high-anxious and defensive high-anxious participants were tested. Participants were given either positive or negative personality-feedback in a public and a private condition (repeated measurement design). It was expected, that negative feedback in a public condition would cause social stress in the participants. This would then lead to challenge in repressors and threat in defensive high-anxious participants. Physiological reactions were assessed in recording spontaneous EEG and cardiovascular responses. The results underline the assumptions made in the model. During social stress a left-frontal activation (EEG) as well as heightened cardiac output and lowered peripheral resistance could be found in repressors, indicating a challenge reaction and not threat. The opposite pattern was found in defensive high-anxious. The study therefore shows the repressor as a socially apt person, with impression management tendencies, and not as a defensive coper.