Roles of cardiovascular activity and negative affect on attributions of men to provoctaive and nonprovactive female behavior

This study investigated the roles of cardiovascular activity and negative affect on the attributions of men. Men were assigned to an arousal-inducing (AIC; serial subtraction by 7s) or a non-arousal-inducing condition (non-AIC; serial subtraction by 1s). Cardiovascular activity and positive and negative affect were measured for the subtraction task. After the task, men listened to a vignette that depicted an interpersonal situation, and their attributions about the woman's behavior were measured. Men in the AIC showed significantly greater changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate and reported greater negative affect than men in the non-AIC. Men in the AIC also made significantly more negative attributions to nonprovocative vignettes. These results tentatively suggest that inducing cardiovascular activity and its accompanying negative affect can increase men's negative perceptions of neutral female behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)