1 THE AUTONOMIC PHYSIOLOGY OF TERROR MANAGEMENT ...

STUDY 1
To begin to test our model we first sought to test the clearest prediction we can
derive, that state self-esteem should match up with state vagal tone, or in other words that
changes in state self-esteem should affect corresponding changes in state vagal tone.
Increasing or decreasing a person’s state of symbolic security should increase or decrease
their immediate physiological security as indexed and provided by state vagal tone. To
test this prediction we devised an experiment. In Study 1 we monitored state vagal tone
and manipulated state self-esteem using positive and negative personality feedback. We
predicted that vagal tone would vary with changes in self-esteem—that a boost to state
self-esteem would increase vagal tone and that a hit to state self-esteem would decrease
vagal tone. We also measured self-esteem covertly with the Implicit Association Test
(IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) both before and after the feedback to
assess the effectiveness of the feedback.
In addition to this primary purpose, this study allowed us to test other auxiliary
hypotheses. For one, the study allowed us to examine whether pre-existing individual
differences in trait self-esteem or baseline vagal tone prior to the feedback would
moderate state self-esteem and state vagal tone responses to the feedback. If high trait
self-esteem makes state self-esteem more resilient, then in high trait self-esteem people
we might observe tempered state self-esteem decreases and tempered vagal tone
decreases in response to negative feedback. In addition, if high tonic vagal tone indexes
physiological security, then in high vagal tone people we might observe tempered state
self-esteem decreases and state vagal tone decreases in response to negative feedback.
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