Communication and Stress: Effects of Hope Evocation and Rumination Messages on Heart Rate, Anxiety, and Emotions After a Stressor.

ABSTRACTHow we cope with the many stressors that we encounter throughout our lives has implications for our well-being. By affecting how individuals appraise stressful events, communication can prolong or ameliorate physiological and emotional responses to stress. This study investigated the short-term effects of hope-inducing and rumination-inducing messages on heart rate, state anxiety, and emotions after a standardized, social-evaluative stressor. Continuous heart rate was monitored for 127 college students (64 female, 63 male) throughout an experiment that included a performance stressor and messages designed to (a) cause feelings of hope, (b) evoke rumination, or (c) be a distraction (control). Heart rate varied by message, such that heart rate was lowest in the hope evocation condition. State anxiety was lower in the hope evocation and distraction control conditions than in the rumination condition. The rumination condition led to greater anger, greater guilt, and less happiness than did the other c...