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Cerebral laterality, repressive coping, autonomic arousal, and human bonding
D Shapiro1, L D Jamner, S Spence
1Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Acta Physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum
|January 1, 1997
Summary
Repressive coping styles show distinct brain responses to emotional stimuli. Individuals with this style exhibit right-hemisphere activation, suggesting its role in social bonding and emotional processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
Background:
- Emotional expressive styles, like alexithymia, are linked to cerebral hemispheric asymmetries.
- Repressive coping involves minimized stress reporting alongside high physiological responsivity, suggesting a dissociation between subjective and physiological responses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that repressive coping styles are associated with functional disconnection between cerebral hemispheres and greater lateralization.
- To examine the relationship between coping styles, hemispheric processing, and emotional responses.
Main Methods:
- Reanalyzed data from a study presenting emotional and neutral slides unilaterally to the left and right hemispheres (200 ms exposure).
- Categorized subjects into four coping styles based on defensiveness and anxiety scores.
Main Results:
- Repressive copers demonstrated a significant cardiac response (heart rate deceleration) to emotional stimuli presented to the right hemisphere, but not the left.
- This finding suggests lateralized processing of emotional material in individuals with a repressive coping style.
Conclusions:
- The results support Jim Henry's theories on the right hemisphere's role in affiliation and human bonding.
- Repressive coping styles may involve specific patterns of hemispheric lateralization for emotional processing and social interaction.