Psychological and Physiological Responses to Depressed Others
Abstract
Effects of target affect and participant and target gender on participants' physiological and psychological responses to a videotape depicting a depressed or nondepressed male or female target were examined. Eighty-eight (44 male and 44 female) nondepressed participants between the ages of 18 and 35 completed the POMS and the SDI and then watched a videotape of a male or female actor simulating either a depressed or normal affect while measures of participants' blood pressure and heart rate were taken. Two original scripts were used for the videotapes which were highly similar. Symptom descriptions in the DSM-III-R (for major depression) guided the development of the depression script. Following the videotape, participants completed questionnaires assessing their willingness to interact with the target in future social situations, their perceptions of the target's personal characteristics, and their current mood. Participants were then given a ten-minute period to prepare for a face-to-face interaction with the target in the tape. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded during this time after which participants again completed the POMS. No effects for target affect or participant and target gender were found on the POMS. The depressed targets were significantly more rejected by participants and were perceived as being less pleasant, more negative, less good, more uncomfortable, sadder, weaker, less warm, lower, and more passive than were nondepressed targets. No effects of target affect or participant and target gender were found on any of the physiological measures. Behavioroid measures showed that participants expected the interaction with the depressed target to be less pleasant than with the nondepressed target. Further, participants indicated that they were least looking forward to the interaction with the depressed target, with male participants indicating they were least looking forward to interacting with the depressed male target.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 18, 1995
- Accession Number
- AD1011447
Entities
People
- Denise M. Hoffman
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences