Repressor Personality Styles and EEG Patterns Associated with Affective Memory and Thought Suppression

Tyler S. Lorig, Jerome L. Singer, George A. Bonanno, Penelope Davis, Gary E. Schwartz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Repressive personality style has often been identified as an important variable governing a variety of individual differences. There is debate, however, concerning the mechanisms by which this style is expressed. One hypothesis suggests that threatening information, after encoding, is suppressed from awareness. Another theory maintains that threatening information is diverted from awareness at a “preconscious” level. The experiment described here attempted to address this debate. Twenty undergraduate subjects selected on the basis of their scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety scale and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale participated. The subjects represented four personality groups based on the intersection of high and low scores on the two tests. Individuals showing low anxiousness-high social desirability were identified as repressors. EEG, cardiovascular, and self-report data were recorded form subjects as they engaged in recall, elaboration, and suppression of positive and negative memories. Results of the analyses of these data indicated that the personality groups differed widely in EEG theta, alpha and beta activity during the completion of these tasks. The pattern of these findings suggest that subjects using a repressive coping style exhibit EEG activity associated with anxiety and also an absence of cognitive activity when faced with the recall of negative memories.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)203-210
Number of pages8
JournalImagination, Cognition and Personality
Volume14
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1995

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychology (miscellaneous)
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

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