Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Theory and evidence bearing on a Scale of Trait Arousability

  • Articles
  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Trait Arousability is defined, in part, by strength of arousal response to sudden increases in complexity, variation, novelty, and/or unexpectedness of stimuli. The Trait Arousability Scale related positively to increases in diastolic pressure when angered, to heart disease, incidence of illnesses, conditioned aversions, avoidance of social contacts in high-density dormitories, dissatisfaction and lowered performance in high density workplaces, recall of emotional events, enjoyment of violence, and to scales of affiliation, dependency, empathy, sensitivity, impulsivity, affect intensity, low endurance, anxiety, neuroticism, procrastination, paranoia, eating disorders, and suicidal tendencies (but not to depression).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Chapter © 2020

References

  • Andrews, K. (1990).The effects of emotion on memory accuracy. Unpublished bachelor’s thesis, Reed College, Portland, OR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum, A., Calesnick, L.E., Davis, G.E., & Gatchel, R.J. (1982). Individual differences in coping with crowding: Stimulus screening and social overload.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 821–830.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broen, W.E., Jr. (1968).Schizophrenia research and theory. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bushman, B.J. (1993). Personal communication.

  • Bushman, B.J., & Geen, R.G. (1990). Role of cognitive-emotional mediators and individual differences in the effects of media violence on aggression.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 156–163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, L.J., & Chapman, J.P. (1973).Disordered thought in schizophrenia. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowne, D.P., & Marlowe, D. (1960). A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology.Journal of Consulting Psychology, 24, 349–354.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Desor, J.A. (1972). Toward a psychological theory of crowding.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21, 79–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dohrenwend, B.S., & Dohrenwend, B.P. (Eds.) (1974).Stressful life events: Their nature and effects. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolgin, M.J., & Katz, E.R. (1988). Conditioned aversions in pediatric cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 9, 82–85.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., & Lennon, R. (1983). Sex differences in empathy and related capacities.Psychological Bulletin, 94, 100–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H.J., & Eysenck, S.B. (1968).Manual for the Eysenck Personality Inventory. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fried, Y. (1990). Workspace characteristics, behavioral interferences, and screening ability as joint predictors of employee reactions.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11, 267–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J.A. (1964). Strength of the nervous system and levels of arousal: A reinterpretation. In J.A. Gray (Ed.),Pavlov’s typology (pp. 289–364). Oxford: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hines, M., & Mehrabian, A. (1979). Approach-avoidance behaviors as a function of pleasantness and arousing quality of settings and individual differences in stimulus screening.Social Behavior and Personality, 7, 223–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hovanitz, C.A., Gynther, M.D., & Marks, P.A. (1983). The prediction of paranoid behavior: Comparative validities of obvious vs. subtle MMPI paranoia (Pa) items.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 407–411.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, D.N. (1967).Personality Research Form manual. Goshen, NY: Research Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, H.S. (1979).Disorders of sexual desire. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. (1955).The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kern, M.F., Kenkel, M.B., Templer, D.I., & Newell, T.G. (1986). Drug preference as a function of arousal and stimulus screening.The International Journal of the Addictions, 2, 255–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuder, G.F., & Richardson, M.W. (1937). The theory of estimation of test reliability.Psychometrika, 2, 151–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, R.J., & Diener, E. (1987). Affect intensity as an individual difference characteristic: A review.Journal of Research in Personality, 21, 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, R.J., Diener, E., & Emmons, R.A. (1985). An evaluation of subjective well-being measures.Social Indicators Research, 17, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lay, C.H. (1986). At last, my research article on procrastination.Journal of Research in Personality, 20, 474–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lay, C.H. (1987). A modal profile analysis of procrastinators: A search for types.Personality and Individual Differences, 8, 705–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maltzman, I. (1967). Individual differences in “attention”: The orienting reflex. In R.M. Gagne (Ed.),Learning and individual differences (pp. 94–112). Columbus, OH: Merrill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maltzman, I., & Raskin, D.C. (1965). Effects of individual differences in the orienting reflex on conditioning and complex processes.Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 1, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandler, G., & Sarason, S.B. (1952). A study of anxiety and learning.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 47, 166–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, M.P., & Jupp, J.J. (1989). Intercorrelations among general arousability, emerging and current sexual desire, and severity of sexual dysfunction in women.Psychological Reports, 65, 147–154.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1970). The development and validation of measures of affiliative tendency and sensitivity to rejection.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 417–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1976).Manual for the questionnaire measure of stimulus screening and arousability. (Available from Albert Mehrabian, 1130 Alta Mesa Road, Monterey, CA 93940.)

  • Mehrabian, A. (1977a). A questionnaire measure of individual differences in stimulus screening and associated differences in arousability.Environmental Psychology and Nonverbal Behavior, 1, 89–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1977b). Individual differences in stimulus screening and arousability.Journal of Personality, 45, 237–250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1978a). Measures of individual differences in temperament.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 38, 1105–1117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1978b). Characteristic individual reactions to preferred and unpreferred environments.Journal of Personality, 46, 717–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1979). Effect of emotional state on alcohol consumption.Psychological Reports, 44, 271–282.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1987).Eating characteristics and temperament: General measures and interrelationships. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1991a). Outline of a general emotion-based theory of temperament. In J. Strelau and A. Angleitner (Eds.),Explorations in temperament: International perspectives on theory and measurement (pp. 75–86). New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A. (1991b).Your inner path to investment success: Insights into the psychology of investing. Chicago: Probus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Bernath, M.S. (1991). Factorial composition of commonly used self-report depression inventories: Relationships with basic dimensions of temperament.Journal of Research in Personality, 25, 262–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Epstein, N. (1972). A measure of emotional empathy.Journal of Personality, 40, 525–543.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Falender, C.A. (1978). A questionnaire measure of individual differences in child stimulus screening.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 38, 1119–1127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Hines, M. (1978). A questionnaire measure of individual differences in dominancesubmissiveness.Educational and Psychological Measurement, 38, 479–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & O’Reilly, E. (1980). Analysis of personality measures in terms of basic dimensions of temperament.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 492–503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & O’Reilly, E. (1988). Personality correlates of habitual alcohol use.The International Journal of the Addictions, 23, 175–182.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Ross, M. (1977). Quality of life change and individual differences in stimulus screening in relation to incidence of illness.Psychological Reports, 41, 267–278.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Ross, M. (1979). Illnesses, accidents, and alcohol use as functions of the arousing quality and pleasantness of life changes.Psychological Reports, 45, 31–43.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Russell, J.A. (1974). A verbal measure of information rate for studies in environmental psychology.Environment and Behavior, 6, 233–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Stanton-Mohr, L.M. (1985). Effects of emotional state on sexual desire and sexual dysfunction.Motivation and Emotion, 9, 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & Weinstein, L. (1985). Temperament characteristics of suicide attempters.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 544–546.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., & West, S. (1977). Emotional impact of a task and its setting on work performance of screeners and nonscreeners.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 45, 895–909.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian, A., Young, A.L., & Sato, S. (1988). Emotional empathy and associated individual differences.Current Psychology: Research & Reviews, 7, 221–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nebylitsyn, V.D. (1972).Fundamental properties of the human nervous system. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebylitsyn, V.D., & Gray, J.A. (Eds.). (1972).Biological bases of individual behavior. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oldham, G.R. (1988). Effects of changes in workspace partitions and spatial density on employee reactions: A quasi-experiment.Journal of Applied Psychology, 73, 253–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldham, G.R., Kulik, C.T., & Stepina, L.P. (1991). Physical environments and employee reactions: Effects of stimulus-screening skills and job complexity.Academy of Management Journal, 34, 929–938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldham, G.R., & Rotchford, N.L. (1983). Relationships between office characteristics and employee reactions: A study of the physical environment.Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 542–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlov, I.P. (1955).Selected works. Translated by S. Belsky. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. (1960).Psychology of intelligence. Paterson, NJ: Littlefield, Adams.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reisberg, D., & Heuer, F. (1992). Remembering the details of emotional events. In E. Winograd and U. Neisser (Eds.),Affect and accuracy in recall: A problem of flashbulb memories (pp. 162–190). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubio, C.T., & Lubin, B. (1986). College student mental health: A person-environment interactional analysis.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 42, 205–213.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rushton, J.P., Fulker, D.W., Neale, M.C., Nias, D.K.B., & Eysenck, H.J. (1986). Altruism and aggression. The heritability of individual differences.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 1192–1198.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J.A., & Mehrabian, A. (1975). The mediating role of emotions in alcohol use.Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 36, 1508–1536.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sebej, F., Mullner, J., & Farkas, G. (1984). The relation of subjective and physiological correlates of anger to some cognitive and personality traits.Studia Psychologica, 26, 99–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selye, H. (1956).The stress of life. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddle, D.A.T. (1971). The orienting response and distraction.Australian Journal of Psychology, 23, 261–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddle, D.A.T., & Mangan, G.L. (1971). Arousability and individual differences in resistance to distraction.Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 5, 295–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokolov, E.N. (1960). Neuronal models and the orienting reflex. In M.A.B. Brazier (Ed.),The central nervous system and behavior (pp. 187–276). New York: Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokolov, E.N. (1963).Perception and the conditioned reflex. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spielberger, C.D., Gorsuch, R.L., & Lushene, R.E. (1970).Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundstrom, E., Burt, R.E., & Kamp, D. (1980). Privacy at work: Architectural correlates of job satisfaction and job performance.Academy of Management Journal, 23, 101–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uherik, A. (1985). Personality traits and cognitive functions in relation to risk factors of myocardial infarction.Studia Psychologica, 27, 147–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uherik, A., & Sebej, F. (1983). Regulatory influences of activation level and the process of adaptation.Ceskoslovenska Psychologie, 27, 408–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahlers, R.G., Dunn, M.C., & Etzel, M.J. (1986). The congruence of alternative OSL measures with consumer exploratory behavior tendencies.Advanced Consumer, 13, 398–402.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yermolayeva-Tomina, L.B. (1964). Concentration of attention and strength of the nervous system. In J.A. Gray (Ed.),Pavlov’s typology (pp. 446–464). Oxford: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerman, M. (1979).Sensation seeking: Beyond the optimal level of arousal. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Los Angeles

    Albert Mehrabian

Authors
  1. Albert Mehrabian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mehrabian, A. Theory and evidence bearing on a Scale of Trait Arousability. Current Psychology 14, 3–28 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686870

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686870

Keywords

Search

Navigation