Ono Makiko, Fujita Mizuho, Yamada Shigeyuki
Department of Pathobiology, Graduate School of Nursing, Chiba University, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8672, Japan.
J Physiol Anthropol. 2009 Jan;28(1):29-35. doi: 10.2114/jpa2.28.29.
The effects of communicating during and after expressing emotions and receiving empathy after exposure to stress were investigated for 18 female students (9 pairs). After mental and physical tasks, a subject spoke to a listener about the stress task. In Experiment 1, responses to speaking about negative emotions aroused by the task (the "with emotion" condition) were compared to speaking about only objective facts about the task (the control). In Experiment 2, responses to empathetic reactions from the listener (the "with empathy" condition) were compared to no reaction (the control). Electroencephalograms were recorded, and heart rate variability (HRV) was calculated from electrocardiogram data. Subjective stress was estimated by a visual analog scale. Experiment 1 demonstrated that expressing emotions activated the left temporal region (T3) in the "with emotion" condition. In Experiment 2, physiological responses depended on cognition of different elements of empathy. During communication, feeling that the listener had the same emotion decreased the subject's T3 activity and sympathetic activity balance indicated by HRV. After communication, feeling that the listener understood her emotions decreased bilateral frontal and temporal activity. On the other hand, subjective stress did not differ between conditions in both experiments. These findings indicate that the comfort of having shared a message reduced physiological activity, especially in the "with empathy" condition. Conversely, even in the "with empathy" condition, not sharing a message can result in more discomfort or stress than the control. Sharing might be associated with cognition of the degree of success of communication, which reflected in the physiological responses. In communication, therefore, expressing emotions and receiving empathy did not in themselves reduce stress, and the level of cognition of having shared a message is a key factor in reducing stress.
对18名女学生（9对）进行了研究，以探讨在暴露于压力后表达情绪期间及之后进行交流以及获得共情的影响。在完成身心任务后，一名受试者向一名倾听者讲述压力任务。在实验1中，将讲述任务引发的负面情绪（“带有情绪”条件）的反应与仅讲述任务的客观事实（对照组）的反应进行了比较。在实验2中，将倾听者的共情反应（“带有共情”条件）的反应与无反应（对照组）的反应进行了比较。记录脑电图，并根据心电图数据计算心率变异性（HRV）。通过视觉模拟量表评估主观压力。实验1表明，在“带有情绪”条件下表达情绪激活了左颞区（T3）。在实验2中，生理反应取决于对共情不同要素的认知。在交流过程中，感觉倾听者有相同情绪会降低受试者的T3活动以及HRV所表明的交感神经活动平衡。交流后，感觉倾听者理解了自己的情绪会降低双侧额叶和颞叶的活动。另一方面，两个实验中不同条件下的主观压力没有差异。这些发现表明，分享信息带来的舒适感降低了生理活动，尤其是在“带有共情”条件下。相反，即使在“带有共情”条件下，不分享信息可能会比对照组导致更多不适或压力。分享可能与对交流成功程度的认知有关，这反映在生理反应中。因此，在交流中，表达情绪和获得共情本身并不会减轻压力，而对已分享信息程度的认知水平是减轻压力的关键因素。
