Physiological Responses To Anxiety and Stress

Reactions to Oppression, Galvanic Skin Potential, and Heart Rate

Bibliographic Data

ID7841702
AuthorsLinda James Myers (0000-0002-4588-3607, The Ohio State University, corresponding author), DeVon Renard Stokes (Des Moines General Hospital), Suzette L Speight (The Ohio State University)
Year1989
Volume20
Issue1
Pages80-96
Publication date1989-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Black Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9347 • E-ISSN: 1552-4566
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/002193478902000105
OpenAlexW2021582625
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited13

The relationship between stress and health has been well established. However, little attention has been paid to extraordinary socio-cultural factors which precipitate stress, such as racism, sexism, etc. In a racist society, one would expect that increased stress and anxiety might be precipitated within those groups toward whom the discrimination is directed. While a common sense analysis would lead to this conclusion, the quantification of data confirming it is absent in psychological literature, particularly in terms of physiological effects and reactions to oppression. The purpose of this study is to examine the potential relationships between physiological responses to anxiety and stress, and reactions to oppression among Black males. The aim will be not only to explicate such a relationship, but also to explore the relevance of quantitative methods for increasing our understanding of human behavior from Afrocentric, as well as Eurocentric, perspectives. Hector Myers (1976) describes membership in the Black race as entailing exposure to highly stressful experiences, triggered essentially by the fact of race. He goes on to identify poverty and ethnicity as two of the most important consequential factors contributing to

Anxiety · Diversity (politics · Oppression · Political science · Poverty · Prejudice (legal term · Psychiatry · Race (biology · Racism · Sociology · Stress (linguistics · Clinical Psychology · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Gender Studies · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Social Psychology · Stress Responses and Cortisol

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