20 high and 20 low A-Trait Ss were exposed to dental treatment and measures of A-State were obtained before, during, and after treatment. While high scorers had higher absolute levels of A-State anxiety in this stress situation, the amount of increase was not different for the two levels of trait anxiety. The results supported trait-state anxiety theory which predicts that measures of A-State vary with the situational stress and that high- and low-trait anxious Ss do not differ in the amount of change in A-State during physical danger.
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