Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Interpersonal Influence As Active Coping: Effects Of Task Difficulty On Cardiovascular Reactivity, Timothy Smith, Michael Baldwin, Alan Christensen

Alan J. Christensen

This study examined the effects of attempting social influence on cardiovascular reactivity. Subjects were randomly assigned to a noncontingent reward condition or one of three conditions in which receipt of a monetary reward was contingent on their ability to influence another individual through a persuasive communication. In the contingent conditions, the task was presented as either easy, difficult, or very difficult. Measures of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were recorded while subjects prepared and delivered the persuasive communication (contingent conditions) or reviewed and read aloud the same statement without an incentive to influence. The contingent conditions …