TITLE:
The Effect of Participants' Stress Manipulation on Experimenters’ Mood States
AUTHORS:
Hirotsune Sato, Jun I. Kawahara
KEYWORDS:
Experimenters’ Mood States, Stress Induction, Experimental Ethics
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.8 No.8,
June
28,
2017
ABSTRACT: This study examined whether experimenters’ mood states vary as a function of participants’ mood states. Thirty unacquainted “Experimenter”-“Participant” pairs participated. Participants delivered an unscripted speech in front of an experimenter while being videotaped. The stress levels of experimenters and participants were measured using a questionnaire and salivary cortisol measurements prior to and following the stress induction. A strong negative relationship was found between changes in the stress indices of the experimenters and those of the participants; a smaller increase in stress among participants was associated with a greater increase in stress among experimenters. This result suggests that stress induction can produce negative side effects among experimenters.