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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Virtual Reality Experiments with Physiological Measures
Published on: August 29, 2018
Sympathetic arousal to a vestibular stressor in high and low hostile men
Joseph E Carmona1, Alissa K Holland, Harrison J Stratton
1Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 109 Williams Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. jcarmona@vt.edu
Abstract:
The aim of the present experiment was to extend the literature on hostility and a cerebral systems based model of sympathetic arousal to a vestibular-based stress. Several authors have concluded that autonomic stress reactivity in high hostile individuals must be interpersonally based, whereas healthy vestibular system functioning does not depend on interpersonal features. Utilizing a vestibular activation paradigm, skin conductance levels of 15 high hostile and 15 low hostile men were recorded after brief passive rotation about the vertical neuroaxis. It was expected that hostile individuals would exhibit higher skin conductance levels after rotation compared with low hostile individuals. The results confirmed expectations of heightened sympathetic tone among high hostiles subsequent to vestibular stress. Overall, the findings are interpreted to support a cerebral model of frontal region capacity limitation for regulation of vestibular stress that is independent of psychosocial mechanisms.
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