Previous researchers have suggested that cognitive avoidance occurs for stimuli describing social threats but not for stimuli describing physical threats. The present research examined whether individuals can cognitively avoid physically threatening stimuli, such as the words 'HIV' or 'cancer'. Three studies investigated (a) personality characteristics that predict cognitive avoidance of physically threatening stimuli, (b) whether the stimuli have to be relevant to the avoider and (c) circumstances that may disrupt the avoidance mechanism. / Study 1 was an exploratory study examining the personality characteristics that predict avoidance of thoughts concerning physical threats, specifically, sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The study found that lower sexual self-efficacy and less assertiveness predicted greater self-reported avoidance of thoughts concerning STIs. The more participants tended to avoid thoughts concerning STIs the less likely they were to discuss safer sex practices with their partner and the less consistent they were in their condom use. The findings suggest that individuals can avoid thoughts of physical threats (i.e., STIs) and that this avoidance can have consequences such as engaging in riskier sexual behaviours (i.e., not consistently using condoms). / In study 2, participants were presented threatening words on a computerized task (the emotional Stroop task) to assess if they would automatically attend to or avoid physically threatening words. Dispositionally avoidant participants (participants low in anxiety and high in repressive defensiveness) avoided physically threatening words but only if they were perceived to be self-relevant, otherwise the avoidance mechanism was not elicited. / Study 3 examined if the avoidance of physical threats may be disrupted when there is a temporary reduction in dopamine, such as when cigarette smokers abstain from smoking. Results showed that non-abstaining smokers with an avoidant disposition superficially processed (avoided) threatening words related to smoking on an emotional Stroop task. Abstainers however did not demonstrate this superficial processing suggesting that the avoidance mechanism was disrupted. / The three studies demonstrate that individuals avoid physical threats if they perceive them to be self-relevant and that this avoidance mechanism can be disrupted by a temporary reduction in dopamine.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.102518 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Klein, Rupert G. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Psychology.) |
| Rights | © Rupert G. Klein, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002571861, proquestno: AAINR27801, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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