Yap Wei Jie, Christopoulos George I, Hong Ying-Yi
Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore; Decision, Environmental and Organizational Neuroscience (DEON) Lab, Culture Science Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore; Decision, Environmental and Organizational Neuroscience (DEON) Lab, Culture Science Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore; Institute on Asian Consumer Insight, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Behav Brain Res. 2017 May 15;325(Pt B):214-222. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.01.017. Epub 2017 Jan 18.
Cultural attachment (CA) suggests that cultural symbols can function as attachment figures, in a similar way to prototypical maternal attachment figures. In order to further understand the psychophysiological mechanisms of CA, we examine whether cultural symbols regulate peripheral physiological indicators of arousal in response to symbolic threats. We supraliminally expose participants to neutral or threatening stimuli, followed by the subliminal presentation of CA and control images, while recording their Skin Conductance Responses (SCR). In tandem with previous work, threat increased SCR when the subliminal image was a control. However, the subliminal presence of a cultural symbol reduced this typically high SCR to threat, potentially suggesting that the threat-related arousal was mitigated. Importantly, metrics related to the way an individual is related to the environment, i.e. the need for cognitive closure, affected physiological responses towards threat and cultural images. Overall, the present study sets the basis for potential emotional mechanisms that could explain how cultural symbols can act as extensions of the prototypical attachment figures and confer the sense of security in the face of threat.
文化依恋（CA）表明，文化符号可以像典型的母亲依恋对象一样，发挥依恋对象的作用。为了进一步了解文化依恋的心理生理机制，我们研究文化符号是否会调节对符号性威胁做出反应时的外周生理唤醒指标。我们向参与者阈上呈现中性或威胁性刺激，随后阈下呈现文化依恋和对照图像，同时记录他们的皮肤电反应（SCR）。与之前的研究一致，当阈下图像为对照图像时，威胁会增加皮肤电反应。然而，文化符号的阈下呈现将这种通常因威胁而产生的高皮肤电反应降低了，这可能表明与威胁相关的唤醒得到了缓解。重要的是，与个体与环境的关系方式相关的指标，即认知闭合需求，影响了对威胁和文化图像的生理反应。总体而言，本研究为潜在的情感机制奠定了基础，这些机制可以解释文化符号如何能够作为典型依恋对象的延伸，并在面对威胁时赋予安全感。
