Title: |
Cardiovascular reactivity and resistance to opposing viewpoints during intragroup conflict |
Author(s): |
Frank R.C. de Wit, Daan Scheepers and Karen A. Jehn |
Journal: |
Psychophysiology |
Year: |
2012 |
Volume: |
49 |
Pages: |
1523–1531 |
DOI: |
10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01456.x |
File URL: |
vuams-pubs/Wit_2012.pdf |
Keywords: |
Threat, Conflict, Heart rate, Cardiac output, Anxiety, Total peripheral resistance |
Abstract: |
This study examined how the outcomes of joint decision making relate to cardiovascular reactions when group members
disagree about the decision to be taken. A conflict was experimentally induced during a joint decision-making task, while
cardiovascular markers of challenge/threat motivational states were assessed following the biopsychosocial model of
challenge and threat (BPSM; J. Blascovich, 2008). Results show that individuals were less likely to adjust their initially preferred decision alternative the more they exhibited a cardiovascular pattern indicative of threat (i.e., relatively high total peripheral resistance and low cardiac output) compared to challenge. This finding extends the BPSM by showing a link between threat and rigidity, and emphasizes the importance of psychophysiological processes for studying intragroup conflict and decision making. |