Burk Christian L, Wiese Bettina S
RWTH Aachen University, Jaegerstrasse 17-19, Aachen D-52056, Germany.
MethodsX. 2020 Nov 26;7:101162. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2020.101162. eCollection 2020.
One aim of creating a new laboratory protocol was to investigate stress responses while being confronted with a work-related task, that is, having to provide negative feedback. It was central to the development of the scenario to make potential testosterone and cortisol responses measurable. The first part of the protocol comprises the introduction to the cover story, that is, being a member of the assessors' team as part of a larger assessment center program aiming to estimate the proficiency of students prior to their entry into professional life. Watching a video of one of the assessment center's candidates and having to assess his performance in a self-presentation task was introduced to personally involve participants in the feedback conversation they had to conduct with the same candidate later on. A second aim was to introduce an experimental manipulation in the form of instructions and brief tutorials regarding different emotion regulation strategies to apply. Participants were randomly assigned to one out of four conditions: expressive suppression (keeping a neutral expression); cognitive reappraisal (staying task-oriented and emotionally distanced); affect utilization (moving towards and using emotions); or control condition. Distinguishing these ways to regulate one's emotions enabled us to reveal differential hormonal stress responses: Applying either cognitive reappraisal or affect utilization strategies alleviated temporary testosterone declines compared with the other two conditions. This method article contains details regarding the procedure as well as the following documents in their original wording: • Introduction to the cover story (being a member of the assessors' team, observation of the attendant's self-presentation, assessment dimensions) • Slides and audio instructions regarding experimental conditions (how to regulate emotions) • Documents handed out to assist participants in conducting the feedback conversation.
创建新实验室方案的一个目的是研究在面对与工作相关的任务（即必须提供负面反馈）时的应激反应。使潜在的睾酮和皮质醇反应可测量是该情景发展的核心。方案的第一部分包括介绍掩饰故事，即作为评估团队的一员，参与一个更大的评估中心项目，该项目旨在评估学生进入职业生涯之前的能力。让参与者观看评估中心一名候选人的视频，并要求他们评估其在自我展示任务中的表现，目的是让参与者亲自参与随后他们必须与同一名候选人进行的反馈对话。第二个目的是以关于应用不同情绪调节策略的指导和简短教程的形式引入一种实验操作。参与者被随机分配到四种条件中的一种：表达抑制（保持中性表情）；认知重评（保持任务导向和情感距离）；情感利用（接近并利用情绪）；或控制条件。区分这些调节情绪的方式使我们能够揭示不同的激素应激反应：与其他两种条件相比，应用认知重评或情感利用策略可缓解睾酮的暂时下降。本文详细介绍了实验过程以及以下原文文件：• 掩饰故事介绍（作为评估团队成员、观察参与者的自我展示、评估维度）• 关于实验条件（如何调节情绪）的幻灯片和音频指导• 分发给参与者以协助进行反馈对话的文件
