Type of Commute, Behavioral Aftereffects, and Cardiovascular Activity: A Field Experiment

It was hypothesized that commuting would elevate blood pressure and lower frustration tolerance. This hypothesis was tested by assessing postcommute behavior of 168 paid volunteers in a true experiment whose factors were type of commute (drive vs. ride vs. control), direction of commute (North vs. South), gender (male vs. female), and choice (salient vs. nonsalient). Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that subjects who drove 48 km or rode a bus the same distance evidenced less frustration tolerance than noncommuting control subjects. Commuting also raised pulse and systolic blood pressure. Multivariate analyses of covariance were performed in an effort to identify physiological and emotional responses that might mediate relations between commuting and frustration tolerance. It is concluded that variables other than affect and arousal are responsible for behavioral aftereffects.