Abstract
Consider two individuals, both of whom must undergo an aversive dental procedure. When the first individual arrives, the dentist describes what is going to take place, including when and under what circumstances the person can expect to feel pain. The second individual receives no such preparation from the dentist. Exactly the same procedure is performed on both individuals. Will the person undergoing the predictable procedure experience more or less stress before, during, and after his dental visit than the person undergoing the identical, but unpredictable procedure?
I thank E. Freed, R. Grant, J. Harkavy, M. Hammel, C. Mangan, H. Lief, W. Miller, J. Nelson, and M. Seligman for their help and advice. Partially supported by Grant RR-09069 from the National Institute of Health and Grant MH-19604 from the National Institute of Mental Health.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Andrew, J. M., 1970, Recovery from surgery, with and without preparatory instruction, for three coping styles, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 15:223.
Averill, J. R., O’Brien, L., and DeWitt, G. W., 1977, The influence of response effectiveness on the preference for warning and on psychophysiological stress reactions, J. Personal., 45:395.
Averill, J. R., and Rosenn, M., 1972, Vigilant and nonvigilant coping strategies and psychophysiological stress reactions during the anticipation of an electric shock, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 23:128.
Badia, P., McBane, B., Suter, S., and Lewis, P., 1966, Preference behavior in an immediate versus variably delayed shock situation with and without a warning signal, J. Exp. Psychol., 72:847.
Badia, P., Suter, S., and Lewis, P., 1967, Preference for warned shock: Information and/or preparation, Psychol. Rep., 20:271.
Barber, T. X., and Hahn, K. W., 1962, Physiological and subjective responses to pain producing stimulation under hypnotically-suggested and waking-imagined “analgesia.” J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol., 65:411.
Berlyne, D. E., 1960, “Conflict Arousal and Curiosity,” Mc Graw Hill, New York.
Blitz, B., and Dinnerstein, A. J., 1971, Role of attentional focus in pain perception: Manipulation of response to noxious stimulation by instructions, J. Abnorm. Psychol., 77:42.
Bloom, L. J., Houston, B. K., Holmes, D. S., and Burish, T. G., 1977, The effectiveness of attentional diversion and situation redefinition for reducing stress to a nonambiguous threat, J. Res. Personal., 11:83.
Byrne, D., 1961, The repression-sensitization scale: Rationale, reliability, and validity, J. Personal., 29:334.
Cohen, F., and Lazarus, R. S., 1973, Active coping processes, coping dispositions, and recovery from surgery, Psychosom. Med., 35:375.
Egbert, L. D., Battit, G. E., Welch, C. E., and Bartlett, M. K., 1974, Reduction of the operative pain by encouragement and instruction of patient: Study of doctor-patient rapport, N.E. J. Med., 270–825.
Elliott, R., 1966, Effects of uncertainty about the nature and advent of a noxious stimulus (shock) upon heart rate, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 3:353.
Geer, J. H., and Maisel, E., 1972, Evaluating the effects of the prediction-control confound, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 23:314.
Goldstein, M. J.,1959, The relationship between coping and avoiding behavior and response to fear-arousing propaganda, J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol., 58:247.
Holmes, D. S., and Houston, B. K., 1974, Effectiveness of situation redefinition and affective isolation in coping with stress, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 29:212.
Janis, I. O., 1958, “psychological Stress,” John Wiley, New York.
Johnson, J. E., and Leventhal, H., 1974, Effects of accurate expectations and behavioral instructions on reactions during a noxious medical examination, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 29:710.
Jones, A., Bentler, P. M., and Petry, G., 1966, The reduction of uncertainty concerning future pain, J. Abnorm. Psychol 71:87.
Kilpatrick, D. G., 1972, Differential responsiveness of two electrodermal indices to psychological stress and performance of a complex cognitive task, Psychophysiology 9:218.
Klemp, G. O., and Rodin, J., 1976, Effects of uncertainty, delay, and focus of attention on reactions to an aversive situation, J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 12:416.
Langer, E. S., Janis, I. L., and Wolfer, J. A., 1975, Reduction of psychological stress in surgical patients, J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 11:155.
Lazarus, R. S., and Alfert, E., 1964, Short-circuiting of threat by experimentally altering cognitive appraisal, J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol., 69:195.
Lazarus, R. S., Opton, E. M., Nomikos, M. S., and Rankin, N. O., 1965, The principle of short-circuiting of threat: Further evidence, J. Personal., 33:622.
Lykken, D. T., 1962, Perception in the rat: Autonomic response to shock as a function of length of warning interval, Science 137:665.
Maltzman, P. O., and Wolff, C., 1970, Preference for immediate vs. delayed noxious stimulation and the concomitant G.S.R., J. Exp. Psychol., 83:76.
Mead, P. G., 1970, The effect of orientation passages on patient stress prior to dentistry, Psychol. Rec., 20:479.
Miller, S. M., 1979a, Controllability and human stress: Method evidence, and theory, Behay. Res. Ther., 17:287.
Miller, S. M., 1979b, in press, Why having control reduces stress: If I can stop the roller coaster I don’t want to get off, in: “Human Helplessness: Theory and Research,” M. Seligman and J. Garber eds., Academic Press, New York.
Miller, S. M., 1979c, in press, Coping with impending stress: Psychophysiological and cognitive correlates of choice, Psychophysiology.
Miller, S. M., 1979, unpublished manuscript, Monitors vs. blunters: Validation of a questionnaire to assess two styles for coping with threat, University of Pennsylvania.
Miller, S. M., and Grant, R. P., 1979, in press, The blunting hypothesis: A theory of predictability and human stress, in: “Trends in Behavior Therapy,” P. O. Sjoden and S. Bates eds., Academic Press, New York.
Miller, S. M., and Grant, R. P., 1978, unpublished manuscript, Predictability and human stress: Evidence theory, and conceptual clarification, University of Pennsylvania.
Miller, S. M., and Harkavy, J., 1979a, unpublished manuscript, Coping with psychological threat by monitoring vs. blunting, University of Pennsylvania.
Miller, S. M., and Harkavy, J., 1979b, unpublished manuscript, Monitoring vs. blunting and amount of stress-relevant information processing, University of Pennsylvania.
Miller, S. M., Grant, R. P., and Nelson, J., 1978, unpublished manuscript, Choice of potential control under threat of electric shock, University of Pennsylvania.
Miller, S. M., Mangan, C. E., Freed, E., and Burtnett, M., 1979, unpublished manuscript, Which patients benefit from information before a gynecological procedure?: When the doctor should tell all, University of Pennsylvania.
Mischel, W., 1974, Processes in delay of gratification, in: “Advances in Experimental Social Psychology,” Vol. 7, Academic Press, New York.
Mischel, W., Ebbesen, E. B., and Zeiss, A. R., 1973, Selective attention to the self: Situational and dispositional determinants, J. Personal Soc. Psychol., 27:129.
Mischel, W., Ebbesen, E. B., and Zeiss, A. R., 1976, Determinants of selective memory about the self, J. Consul. Clin. Psychol., 46:92.
Monat, A., 1976, Temporal uncertainty, anticipation time, and cognitive coping under threat, J. Hum. Stress 2:32.
Monat, A., Averill, J. R., and Lazarus, R. S., 1972, Anticipatory stress and coping reactions under various conditions of uncertainty, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 24:237.
Neufeld, R. J., 1970, The effect of experimentally altered cognitive appraisal on pain tolerance, Psychonom. Sci., 20:106.
Perkins, C. C., Jr., 1955, The stimulus conditions which follow learned responses, Psychol. Rev., 62:341.
Rothbart, M., and Mellinger, M., 1972, Attention and responsivity to remote dangers: A laboratory simulation for assessing reactions to threatening events, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 24:132.
Seligman, M. E. P., 1968, Chronic fear produced by unpredictable electric shock, J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 66:402.
Seligman, M. E. P., and Binik, Y. M., 1977, The safety signal hypothesis, in: “Pavolvian-Operant Interactions,” H. Davis and H. Hurwitz eds., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale.
Sime, A. M., 1976, Relationship of preoperative fear, type of coping, and information received about surgery to recovery from surgery, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 34:716.
Speisman, J., Lazarus, R., Mordkoff, A., and Davison, L., 1964, Experimental reduction of stress based on ego-defense theory, J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol., 68:367.
Vaillant, G. E., 1977, “Adaptation to Life,” Little, Brown & Co., Boston.
Vernon, D. T. A., 1971, Information seeking in a natural stress situation, J. App. Psychol., 55:359.
Vernon, D. T. A., and Bigelow, D. A., 1974, Effect of information about a potentially stressful situation on responses to stress impact, J. Personal. Soc. Psychol., 29:50.
Wachtel, P. L., 1969, Anxiety, attention, and coping with threat, J. Abnorm. Psychol., 73:137.
Williams, J. G. L., Jones J. R., Workhoven, M. N., and Williams, B., 1975, The psychological control of preoperative anxiety, Psychophysiology, 12:50.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1980 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Miller, S.M. (1980). When is a Little Information a Dangerous Thing? Coping with Stressful Events by Monitoring Versus Blunting. In: Levine, S., Ursin, H. (eds) Coping and Health. NATO Conference Series, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1042-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1042-6_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-1044-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-1042-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive