Anxiety and Behavior

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME

RAYMOND B. CATTELL
C H A R L E S W. E R I K S E N
R O Y R. G R I N K E R , SR.
C A R R O L L E. I Z A R D
R I C H A R D S. L A Z A R U S
R O B E R T B. M A L M O
GEORGE MANDLER
O. H O B A R T M O W R E R
E D W A R D M. O P T O N , J R .
S E Y M O U R B. S A R A S O N
STANLEY SCHACHTER
JANET TAYLOR SPENCE
K E N N E T H W. S P E N C E
CHARLES D. SPIELBERGER
S I L V A N S. T O M K I N S
D A V I D L. W A T S O N
JOSEPH WOLPE
Anxiety and Behavior
Edited by CHARLES D. SPIELBERGER
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

1966

ACADEMIC PRESS New York and London

COPYRIGHT © 1966, BY ACADEMIC PRESS INC.
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list of Contributors
Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors' contributions begin.

RAYMOND B . C A T T E L L , Research Professor of Psychology and Director,

Laboratory of Personality Analysis, University of Illinois, Urbana,
Illinois ( 2 3 )

CHARLES W. ERIKSEN, Research Professor of Psychology, University of

Illinois, Urbana, Illinois ( 3 2 7 )

ROY R. GRINKER, SR., Director, Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiat-

ric Research and Training, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical
Center, Chicago, Illinois ( 1 2 9 )

CARROLL E . IZARD, Professor of Psychology and Director, Clinical Train-

ing Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee ( 8 1 )

RICHARD S. LAZARUS, Professor of Psychology, University of California,

Berkeley, California ( 2 2 5 )

ROBERT B . M A L M O , Professor of Psychology and Director, L a b o r a t o r y of

Psychology, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, Montreal,
Canada ( 1 5 7 )

GEORGE M A N D L E R , Professor and C h a i r m a n , D e p a r t m e n t of Psychology,

University of California, San Diego, California ( 2 6 3 )

O. HOBART M O W R E R , Research Professor of Psychology, University of

Illinois, Urbana, Illinois ( 1 4 3 )

EDWARD M . O P T O N , J R . , Assistant Research Psychologist, University of

California, Berkeley, California ( 2 2 5 )

SEYMOUR B . SARASON, Professor of Psychology and Director, Psycho-

Educational Clinic, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut ( 6 3 )

v
vi LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

STANLEY SCHACHTER, Professor of Social Psychology, Columbia Uni-

versity, New York, New York ( 1 9 3 )

JANET TAYLOR SPENCE, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology,

University of Texas, Austin, Texas ( 2 9 1 )

KENNETH W . SPENCE, Professor of Psychology, University of Texas,

Austin, Texas ( 2 9 1 )

CHARLES D . SPIELBERGER, Professor of Psychology, Vanderbilt Univer-

sity, Nashville, Tennessee ( 3 , 3 6 1 )

SILVAN S. TOMKINS, Professor of Psychology and Director, Center for

Research in Cognition and Affect, City University of New York, New
York, New York ( 8 1 )

DAVID L . WATSON, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of

Toronto, Toronto, Canada ( 2 6 3 )

JOSEPH WOLPE, Research Professor of Psychiatry, Department of Beha-

vioral Science, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania ( 1 7 9 )
Preface
The wide gap that separates contemporary personality theory from the
empirical foundation upon which it must ultimately rest is painfully
evident to the serious student of personality phenomena. Consequently,
those who teach courses on personality are confronted with the uncom-
fortable alternatives of discoursing on unsupported theoretical formulations
or fragmentary research findings. During the past two decades, however,
a middle ground has emerged and with it a new field—the experimental
investigation of personality. This development has been fostered, on the
one hand, by the increasing sophistication of personality psychologists
with respect to experimental procedures and psychometric methods and,
on the other, by the greater readiness of experimental psychologists to
include personality variables in their laboratory investigations.
Experimental personality research has also been stimulated by the
appearance of limited domain theories that emphasize a particular per-
sonality construct. Research guided by such theories typically focuses
upon the measurement of a single personality variable and seeks to deter-
mine its antecedents, correlates, and behavioral consequences. Need-
achievement, authoritarianism, rigidity, and hostility have been subjected
to intensive empirical scrutiny, but anxiety has undoubtedly received
greater attention than any other personality variable. While the intimate
relationship between anxiety and psychopathology has spurred the research
endeavors of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, the pervasiveness of
anxiety in our culture and its ubiquitous influence on human behavior
have generated comparable empirical efforts among learning theorists and
social psychologists.
This book seeks to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of
anxiety and its effects on behavior by bringing together the current views
of psychologists and psychiatrists whose previous work and thought on
this subject have contributed significantly to our present knowledge. Since
the professional training and experience of the contributors varies widely,
vii
viii PREFACE

a number of different theoretical perspectives are represented, and these

are brought to bear on a broad range of anxiety phenomena. Chapters 1-4
are centrally concerned with the nature of anxiety and its measurement.
Chapters 5 - 8 inquire about the relationship between anxiety and psycho-
pathology, taking special note of the physiological mechanisms involved
in anxiety reactions. Chapters 9 - 1 1 evaluate cognitive, social, and behav-
ioral antecedent factors that determine the evocation of anxiety responses.
Chapters 1 2 - 1 4 examine the motivational aspects of anxiety and its
effects on cognition, learning, and behavior.
While intended primarily for psychologists and students of psychology,
the contents of this volume should be of interest to all who are concerned
with personality and psychopathology. The present volume grew out of a
series of colloquia presented to the Departments of Psychology of Vander-
bilt University and George Peabody College between January and October,
1965. Anxiety was selected as a topic to be covered in depth that could be
addressed from a number of different points of view and that would appeal
to graduate students, faculty, and colleagues whose interests ranged over
the entire field of psychology. We invited as our colloquium speakers
scientists whose work on anxiety was well known, and requested that each
spend two days with us. In addition to a formal colloquium presentation,
we asked each speaker to meet with the editor's graduate seminar on
Experimental Approaches to Personality and be available to discuss in-
formally his views on anxiety with students and faculty. Of the contributors
to this volume, Charles W. Eriksen, Roy R. Grinker, Sr., Richard S.
Lazarus, Robert B. Malmo, O. Hobart Mowrer, Kenneth W. Spence, and
Joseph Wolpe presented colloquia at one of the sponsoring institutions. In
addition, Ivan H. Scheier gave a colloquium on Professor Cattell's ap-
proach to anxiety, and David L. Watson discussed recent work on which
he has collaborated with Professor Mandler. Professors Tomkins and
Cattell had presented colloquia on related subjects during the previous
year. Although other commitments prevented Professors Sarason and
Schachter from participating in the colloquium series, both agreed to
contribute chapters describing their recent work. Thus, the present volume
is based essentially upon papers presented in the Vanderbilt-Peabody
Joint Colloquium Series as these were revised for publication by the
authors and invited papers from those who were unable to participate in
person.
In the organization of the colloquium series, I am indebted to Pro-
fessor James Terwilliger, Peabody College Colloquium Coordinator, and
Professor Nicholas Hobbs, Chairman of the Division of H u m a n Relations
of Peabody College, for their willingness to cooperate in the pooling of
 PREFACE ix

institutional resources and their assistance in working out a mutually

beneficial colloquium schedule. I am also grateful for the support and
encouragement of Professors Jum C. Nunnally and Donald L. Thistle-
thwaite who served, respectively, as Chairman of the Vanderbilt Depart-
ment of Psychology during the planning of the colloquium series and at
the time it was carried out. Thanks are also due to Professors Julius See-
man and Carroll E. Izard, Directors of the Clinical Training Programs at
Peabody College and Vanderbilt University, and to the National Institute
of Mental Health whose support of these programs provided funds which
helped to defray the costs of the colloquium series.
For their invaluable assistance in arranging and coordinating the
colloquium series, I express my gratitude to William F . Hodges, Larry D.
Southard, and Mrs. Patricia Harris. I am also indebted to the graduate
students and members of the faculties of Vanderbilt University and
Peabody College who attended the colloquia and the informal sessions
with our speakers for making them exciting learning experiences for all
who participated. Finally, I am especially grateful to my wife, Adele, for
her encouragement, generous assistance, and forbearance throughout this
endeavor.
Permission to reprint materials from books or journals was kindly
granted by the following publishers: American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science; American Psychological Association; American
Psychosomatic Society; Duke University Press; Harcourt, Brace & World,
Inc.; Harper & Row, Publishers; Liverwright Publishing Corporation;
McGraw-Hill, Inc.; Ronald Press; and Springer Publishing Company.

Bethesda, Maryland CHARLES D. SPIELBERGER

March, 1966
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Contents

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS v

PREFACE vii

Part I. INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1. T h e o r y and R e s e a r c h o n A n x i e t y 3
Charles D. Spielberger

Current Trends in Anxiety Research 5

Objective Anxiety (Fear) and Neurotic Anxiety 9
State Anxiety and Trait Anxiety 12
A Trait-State Conception of Anxiety 16
References 19

Part II. T H E NATURE AND MEASUREMENT OF ANXIETY

Chapter 2. A n x i e t y a n d M o t i v a t i o n : T h e o r y and Crucial

Experiments 23

Raymond B. Cattell

The Definition of Anxiety 23

Laws of Anxiety Change in Pathological and Other Fields 38
Anxiety and Personality Dynamics 46
Summary 58
References 59

xi
xii CONTENTS

Chapter 3. T h e M e a s u r e m e n t of A n x i e t y i n C h i l d r e n :
S o m e Questions and Problems 63

Seymour B. Sarason

Reservations About Anxiety Scales 64

The Concept of Defense 69
Some Suggestions Concerning the Interpretation of Anxiety Scales 74
References 79

Chapter 4. Affect a n d B e h a v i o r : A n x i e t y as a Negative

Affect 81

Carroll E. Izard and Silvan S. Tomkins

Affect and Personality 82

The Affect System as the Primary Motivational System 87
Fear-Terror: Anxiety as an Affect 99
Summary 123
References 124

Part III. ANXIETY AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Chapter 5. T h e P s y c h o s o m a t i c Aspects of A n x i e t y 129

Roy R. Grinker, Sr.

Observations of Anxiety in Men under Stress 129

Early Investigations of Anxiety 130
Anxiety and Stress 131
The Nature of Anxiety 133
Producing and Measuring Anxiety 134
Anxiety and Defense 138
The Etiology of Psychosomatic Disorders 139
References 140

Chapter 6. T h e B a s i s of P s y c h o p a t h o l o g y :
Malconditioning or Misbehavior? 143
O. Hobart Mowrer

A New Conception of Emotional Disturbance 144

Choice, Responsibility, and Identity Crisis 147
Psychological Science, Ancient Wisdom—and Folly 152
References 155
 CONTENTS xiii

Chapter 7. S t u d i e s o f A n x i e t y : S o m e Clinical O r i g i n s of
t h e Activation Concept 157

Robert B. Malmo

Activation 158
Experiments with Psychiatric Patients Showing High Anxiety 162
Summary 176
References 176

Chapter 8. T h e Conditioning and Deconditioning of

Neurotic Anxiety 179

Joseph Wolpe

Experimental Neuroses 179

Human Neuroses as Learned Behavior 182
The Deconditioning of Neurotic Anxiety 182
Controlling Factors in the Conditioning and Deconditioning of Neurotic Anxiety
Reactions 186
Results of Therapy of Neurosis on a Conditioning Theory 188
References 189

Part IV. THE DETERMINANTS OF ANXIETY

Chapter 9. T h e Interaction of C o g n i t i v e a n d Physiological

D e t e r m i n a n t s of E m o t i o n a l State 193
Stanley Schachter

Introduction 193
Cognitive, Social and Physiological Determinants 197
Physiological Arousal and Emotionality 208
Sympathetic Activity and Emotionality in Rats . 212
Discussion and Implications . 213
Some Effects of Cognitive Factors on the Appraisal of Bodily States . 220
References . 223

Chapter 10. T h e S t u d y of P s y c h o l o g i c a l Stress:

A S u m m a r y of Theoretical Formulations
and Experimental Findings . 225
Richard S. Lazarus and Edward M. Opton, Jr.

The Theory of Psychological Stress . 228

Methodological Advances . 231
Psychodynamics of Stress . 240
Concluding Statement . 258
References . 261
Xiv CONTENTS

Chapter 11. A n x i e t y a n d t h e I n t e r r u p t i o n of B e h a v i o r 263

George Mandler and David L. Watson

Interruption Theory 264

Previous Studies on the Effects of Interruption 266
An Experiment on Substitute Behavior during Extinction 268
An Experiment on Choice and Anxiety 271
The Two Determinants of Anxiety 280
References 286

Part V. T H E E F F E C T S O F ANXIETY ON BEHAVIOR

Chapter 12. T h e Motivational C o m p o n e n t s of Manifest

Anxiety: Drive and Drive Stimuli 291
Janet Taylor Spence and Kenneth W. Spence

A Theory of Emotionally Based Drive (D) and Its Relation to Performance

in Classical Aversive Conditioning 293
Extensions of the Theory of Emotionally Based Drive to Complex Learning
Phenomena 299
Manifest Anxiety and the Response Interference Hypothesis 308
Conclusions 321
References 323

Chapter 13. Cognitive R e s p o n s e s t o Internally Cued

Anxiety 327
Charles W. Eriksen

Explanatory Accounts of Defensive Behavior 347

Unresolved Issues 355
References 357

Chapter 14. T h e Effects o f A n x i e t y o n Complex

Learning and Academic Achievement 361
Charles D. Spielberger

Anxiety and Drive Theory 362

The Effects of Anxiety on Performance in Complex Learning Tasks 367
Implications for Drive Theory and Clinical Practice 392
Summary 395
References 396

AUTHOR INDEX 399

SUBJECT INDEX 406

Anxiety and Behavior
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Parti
INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER 1

Theory and Research on Anxiety 1

Charles D. Spielberger
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY,
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY,
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

The importance of anxiety as a powerful influence in contemporary

life is increasingly recognized, and manifestations of current concern with
anxiety phenomena are ubiquitously reflected in literature, the arts, science,
and religion as well as in many other facets of our culture. Consider, for
2
example, the following passage from a popular periodical : "Anxiety
seems to be the dominant fact—and is threatening to become the dominant
cliche—of modern life. It shouts in the headlines, laughs nervously at cock-
tail parties, nags from advertisements, speaks suavely in the board room,
whines from the stage, clatters from the Wall Street ticker, jokes with fake
youthfulness on the golf course and whispers in privacy each day before
the shaving mirror and the dressing table. Not merely the black statistics
of murder, suicide, alcoholism and divorce betray anxiety (or that special
form of anxiety which is guilt), but almost any innocent, everyday act:
1
Work on this chapter was facilitated by a grant (HD 947) from the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, United States Public Health
Service. I am indebted to students and colleagues at Duke University and Vander-
bilt University for their critical comments and helpful suggestions concerning a
number of the ideas that are expressed herein, and particularly to Drs. L. Douglas
DeNike, J. Peter Denny, Richard L. Gorsuch, Dale T. Johnson, and Edward S.
Katkin, and to William F. Hodges, Kay Howard, Opal Purdue, Lou Hicks Smith, and
Larry D. Southard.
2 Time, March 31, 1961, p. 44.

3
4 CHARLES D. SPIELBERGER

the limp or overhearty handshake, the second pack of cigarettes or the

third martini, the forgotten appointment, the stammer in mid-sentence,
the wasted hour before the T V set, the spanked child, the new car unpaid
for."
In the behavioral and medical sciences, theoretical and empirical
interest in anxiety parallels the popular concern. Anxiety is found as a
central explanatory concept in almost all contemporary theories of per-
sonality, and it is regarded as a principal causative agent for such diverse
behavioral consequences as insomnia, immoral and sinful acts, instances
of creative self-expression, debilitating psychological and psychosomatic
symptoms, and idiosyncratic mannerisms of endless variety. Empirical
research on anxiety has increased dramatically in the past 2 decades, as
will be documented below. Much of this research has centered around in-
vestigations of learning and perception, indicating that anxiety phenomena
have become more than just the concern of the clinician and the personality
theorist.
While fear and covert anxiety have perhaps always been a part of
man's lot, apparently not until the twentieth century did anxiety emerge
as an explicit and pervasive problem. May ( 1 9 5 0 ) , in his book The
Meaning of Anxiety, presents a penetrating analysis of basic historical
and cultural trends in Western civilization that have contributed to making
overt anxiety a salient characteristic of our times. T h e cold war with its
persistent threat of total destruction in an atomic age, the pressure for
social change attendant upon rapid scientific and technological advances,
the social estrangement and alienation of individuals in an urban, com-
petitive society are but a few examples of the sorts of stresses that serve
to induce feelings of helplessness and impotence in modern man. T o the
extent that social and cultural factors undermine personal security and
create problems for the individual in establishing his psychological identity,
there will be heightened vulnerability to and increased manifestations of—
anxiety.
In 1950, Hoch and Zubin introduced a symposium sponsored by the
American Psychopathological Association with the following statement:
"Although it is widely recognized that anxiety is the most pervasive psycho-
logical phenomenon of our time and that it is the chief symptom in the
neuroses and in the functional psychoses, there has been little or no agree-
ment on its definition, and very little, if any, progress in its measurement"
( 1 9 5 0 , p. v ) . In the past 15 years, theory and research on anxiety have
proliferated but this has not led to a consistent body of empirical findings,
or to convergence among theoretical interpretations. The present volume
 1. THEORY AND RESEARCH ON ANXIETY 5

seeks to facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of

anxiety and its effects on behavior by bringing together the current views
of psychologists and psychiatrists whose previous work and thought in this
area are already well known.
The professional training and experience of the contributors to Anxiety
and Behavior vary widely, and each approaches the problem of anxiety
with his own unique theoretical perspective and research objectives. While
a meaningful synthesis of these diverse views is not yet possible, we will
attempt in this introductory chapter to provide some background on rele-
vant dimensions of the problem. First, publication trends in the anxiety
literature will be surveyed and important contributions to this literature
will be noted. Next, the concepts of objective anxiety (fear) and neurotic
anxiety as these are used in psychoanalytic theory will be reviewed, and
the concepts of trait and state anxiety as explicated in psychological re-
search will be examined. A trait-state conception of anxiety will then be
proposed as a conceptual frame of reference for viewing research and
theory on anxiey.

Current T r e n d s in Anxiety Research

Since Freud's conceptualization of anxiety-neurosis in 1894 as a dis-
crete clinical syndrome to be distinguished from neurasthenia, clinical
studies of anxiety have appeared in the psychiatric literature with increasing
regularity. Similarly, following Pavlov's ( 1 9 2 7 ) discovery of experimental
neurosis over a half-century ago, there have been numerous experimental
investigations of fear, frustration, and conflict in animals of which Liddell's
sheep ( 1 9 4 4 ) , Gantt's dogs ( 1 9 4 2 ) , Masserman's cats ( 1 9 4 3 ) , and the
rat studies of Miller ( 1 9 4 8 ) and Mowrer ( 1 9 4 0 ) are perhaps best known.
But, prior to 1950, there was relatively little experimental work on human
anxiety. Indeed, according to May ( 1 9 5 0 ) , anxiety was not even listed
in the indexes of psychological books written before the late 1930's, ex-
cept in the work of psychoanalytic writers.
Real dangers and ethical problems associated with inducing anxiety in
the laboratory led May to conclude that intensive case studies of individuals
in crisis situations would provide the most likely path toward a better
understanding of human anxiety, and he quotes Mowrer as remarking,
". . . there is at present no experimental psychology of anxiety, and one
may even doubt whether there will ever b e " (May, 1950, p . 9 9 ) . This
prophecy proved false, however, at least in so far as the appearance of the
term "anxiety" in the research literature was concerned. Since 1950 more
than 1500 studies have been indexed under the heading "anxiety" in