Psychosomatic Medicine 21:150-157 (1959)
© 1959 American Psychosomatic Society

Relationships between Palmar Skin Potential during Stress and Personality Variables

The galvanic skin responses of 20 student nurses during periods of basal rest, sentence completion stress, interview stress, and physical stress were analyzed. The amount of fluctuation of palmar skin potential during most of these periods was found to be closely related to the apparent degree of stress in the periods. Fluctuation of palmar skin potential was selected, therefore, as an index of sweat gland response to stress; and measurements of palmar potential fluctuation were correlated with rankings of all subjects on 22 personality variables obtained from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and Rorschach. It was found that an increase of fluctuation of palmar skin potential in response to stress correlates negatively with sum C, sum M, FM, and R total and that it correlates positively with hysteria, psychopathic deviate, and hypochondriasis scales. The following inferences were suggested: 1. The increase of fluctuation of palmar potential in response to stress is negatively correlated with a group of personality variables which have in common the element of expressivity. 2. The increase of fluctuation of palmar potential in response to stress is correlated positively with a group of personality variables which have in common the restraint and curtailment of unpleasant or prohibited feelings and actions.