Levels of anxiety sensitivity in relation to repressive and self-deceptive coping styles

Levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS) were investigated in relation to self-deception and repression in 296 university students. It was hypothesized that a low level of AS, rather than constituting "normal" functioning, would be associated with more general response biases. Scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Peterson & Reiss, 1987, 1992) were negatively and significantly correlated with measures of self-deception and denial. Individuals with low AS were significantly more likely to meet an operational definition of repression (i.e., low anxiety and high defensiveness), compared to mid AS and high AS groups. When confronted with a hypothetical health problem, individuals with low AS were less likely to choose a task-oriented response and more likely to choose denial and self-deceptive responses, compared to the other groups. These findings support the observations of Shostak and Peterson (1990) that low AS represents an extreme group that may not be indicative of normal functioning.