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Psychosomatic Medicine 30:87-94 (1968)
© 1968 American Psychosomatic Society

Physiologic Response to Active and Passive Participation in a Two-Person Interaction

JOHN B. NOWLIN M.D.1, CARL EISDORFER M.D., PH.D.1, MORTON D. BOGDONOFF M.D.1, and CLAUDE R. NICHOLS M.D.1

1 Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N. C.

Physiologic response has been assessed in a two-person interaction where one of of the two participants coped actively with a challenging situation, the other participant assuming a passive observer's role. The experimental challenge was that of responding aloud to a set of standardized interview questions; physiologic parameters considered were those of plasma free fatty acid (FFA) concentration and heart rate. Irrespective of whether the individual was an active or passive participant, the interview situation evoked a marked rise in plasma FFA and heart rate in both volunteers. The possibility was considered that this response might reflect a physiologic counterpart to the transactional process of empathy.

Submitted on March 16, 1967






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Copyright © 1968 by the American Psychosomatic Society