Item and scale personality correlates of somatic sensitivity, as measured by the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire, were investigated. The frequency of items from the CPI-MMPI item pools which differentiated among the APQ groups did not exceed chance levels. Scale correlates of somatic sensitivity were found only for the males (high APQ scores associated with maladjustment) who also scored significantly lower than the females on the APQ. The results were discussed with respect to various hypotheses which might account for this type of sex difference in mean level and differential relationship to psychopathology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarronF.An ego-strength scale which predicts response to psychotherapy. J. consult. Psychol., 1953, 17, 327–333.
2.
BerelsonB.SteinerG. A.Human behavior: an inventory of scientific findings. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World, 1964.
3.
BlockJ.On the number of significant findings to be expected by chance. Psychometrika, 1960, 25, 369–380.
4.
CarlsonE. R.CarlsonR.Male and female subjects in personality research. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1960, 61, 482–483.
HallC. S.LindzeyG.Theories of personality. New York: Wiley, 1957.
7.
HathawayS. R.McKinleyJ. C.Manual for the MMPI. Minneapolis: Univer. of Minnesota Press, 1943.
8.
KaganJ.MossH. A.Birth to maturity. New York: Wiley, 1962.
9.
KamiyaJ.Conditioned introspection: humans can learn to detect and control their EEG alpha rhythms. Paper presented at the meeting of the Soc. for Psychophysiol. Res., Washington, D. C., October, 1964.
10.
KorchinS. J.HeathH. A.Somatic experience in the anxiety state: some sex and personality correlates of “autonomic feedback.”J. consult. Psychol., 1961, 25, 398–404.
11.
LazarusR. S.A substitutive-defensive conception of apperceptive fantasy. In KaganJ. (Ed.), Contemporary issues in thematic apperceptive methods. Springfield, Ill.: Thomas, 1961. Pp. 51–82.
12.
MandlerG.MandlerJ. M.UvillerE. T.Autonomic feedback: the perception of autonomic activity. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1958, 56, 367–373.
13.
NowlisV.NowlisH. H.The description and analysis of mood. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1956, 65, 345–355.
14.
RieffP.Freud: the mind of the moralist. New York: Viking, 1959.
15.
TaylorJ. A.A personality scale of manifest anxiety. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1953, 48, 285–290.
16.
WaltersC. W.ShurleyJ. T.ParsonsO. A.Differences in male and female responses to underwater sensory deprivation: an exploratory study. J. nerv. ment. Dis., 1962, 135, 302–310.
17.
WelshG. S.Factor dimensions A and R. In WelshG. S.DahlstromW. G. (Eds.), Basic readings on the MMPI in psychology and medicine. Minneapolis: Univer. of Minnesota Press, 1960. Pp. 264–281.
