Task Stressfulness Moderates the Effects of Verbal Person Centeredness on Cardiovascular Reactivity: A Dual-Process Account of the Reactivity Hypothesis

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the impact of person-centered comfort on cardiovascular reactivity and to test a recently developed dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes proposing that the impact of supportive communication is moderated by the motivation and ability to attend to message content. Participants (n = 179) completed a public speaking task that served to experimentally manipulate stress. During the preparation period, instant messages containing either low or high person-centered messages or containing no imbedded supportive message were sent. Results indicated that, in line with theoretical predictions, message content did influence mean arterial pressure and heart rate for participants exposed to moderate but not to low or high stress. Results are discussed in terms of the dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes, and the discussion offers both theoretical and practical implications of the research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is part of the author's doctoral dissertation completed under the direction of Dr. Brant Burleson at Purdue University. Partial funding for the dissertation was provided by the Central States Communication Association Federation Prize and a Purdue University Research Foundation Dissertation Grant, both of which were awarded to the author and his advisor. The author expresses his gratitude to Jim Tyler of Purdue University for obtaining the physiological equipment used in this study and to Drs. Erina MacGeorge, Melanie Morgan, and Duane Wegener for their insights as committee members. Thanks are also extended to Amanda Holmstrom for reading a previous version of this article, to Andy J. King for help with data collection, and to Lisa Hanasono, Jerilyn Mincy, Ashton Steffen, Laura Sivy, and Jacqueline McGlynn for serving as confederates.