The state-trait anxiety inventory and sex

This study sought to investigate the response pattern of male and female subjects to the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) under anxiety-provoking and normal conditions. The relationship between the STAI and systolic and diastolic blood pressures for both men and women under the above-mentioned conditions was also examined. We found that the STAI X-2 and the systolic blood pressure discriminated between the sexes and the treatment conditions. On the average, both men and women scored significantly higher during the anxiety-provoking stimulus situation than during the normal condition on systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The men seemed to be more prone to anxiety than the women. We also found that, STAI X-1 related negatively to both the systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the anxious condition among men, while it related positively to the systolic and diastolic blood pressure among women. During the "calm" period, while STAI X-1 and X-2 were unrelated to systolic and diastolic blood pressure among men, the STAI X-2 correlated positively with systolic and diastolic blood pressures among women.