dc.creator | Kline, Nora Katharine | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-08-21T21:36:08Z | |
dc.date.available | 2016-10-05 | |
dc.date.issued | 2016-04-08 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/etd-03252016-113431 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1803/11344 | |
dc.description.abstract | Anxiety and stress can have debilitating effects on our physical and mental health. The purpose of the current study was to examine a way to buffer, or protect, people with anxious symptoms from the negative affect produced by a stressor. I examined if co-occurring laughter and amusement, elicited by an amusing video and instructions to act amused, has a stress buffering effect for people with elevated symptoms of anxiety. The study employed a between-subject design with two conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to either the control condition (boring video/boring instructions) or amusing condition (amusing video/amusing instructions). Results did not show evidence of a stress buffering effect of co-occurring laughter and amusement in this specific population of people with symptoms of anxiety. Negative affect post-stressor task significantly increased, rather than decreased (t(27) = - 2.995; p < 0.01). The current study reveals that a stress buffering manipulation that was effective in a sample of the general population was not effective in a sample of people with anxious symptoms. Potential reasons for these results, as well as limitations and future directions, are discussed. | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.subject | laughter | |
dc.subject | amusement | |
dc.subject | stress | |
dc.subject | anxiety | |
dc.subject | buffering | |
dc.title | Laughter and Amusement’s Buffering Effect on
Stress in a Population with Symptoms of Anxiety: An Experimental Design | |
dc.type | thesis | |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Leslie Kirby | |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Sohee Park | |
dc.type.material | text | |
thesis.degree.name | MA | |
thesis.degree.level | thesis | |
thesis.degree.discipline | Psychology | |
thesis.degree.grantor | Vanderbilt University | |
local.embargo.terms | 2016-10-05 | |
local.embargo.lift | 2016-10-05 | |