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Reports of bodily change in anxiety, sadness, and anger

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Abstract

In a series of studies, retrospective reports were used to assess differences in physiological symptoms associated with three emotions: Anxious, Angry, Sad. Symptom awareness, as measured by scores on the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire and the Somatic Perception Questionnaire, was significantly greater for Anxious than for the other emotions; reports for Angry and Sad were quantitatively similar. Qualitative analysis showed a different pattern. Sad was characterized as involving a low arousal state, while Anxious and Angry shared several distinguishing symptoms, most notably cardiac symptoms and general restlessness. Predicted gender differences were also observed. Males and females did not differ in overall reported level of awareness, but did differ in their reports of the specific symptoms constituting that awareness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, 95616, Davis, California

    Stephanie A. Shields

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  1. Stephanie A. Shields
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Additional information

This research was supported by a Faculty Research Grant from the University of California, Davis. Thanks to Julie Morgerman, Barbara Lewis, Lance Ryen, William Carr, Sarah Tigerman, and Donna Gilbert for their assistance in data collection and coding. Special thanks are also due to Barbara Sommer and Paulette Lathom for their comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Shields, S.A. Reports of bodily change in anxiety, sadness, and anger. Motiv Emot 8, 1–21 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992989

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