THE ROLE OF AUDITORY CUES IN THE DETECTION OF STATE ANXIETY

Detecting anxiety is essential in both help-giving settings and in eve ryday social relationships. The studies reported here represent a foll ow-up to an earlier set of studies in which observers (raters) accurat ely identified others' (expressers') state anxiety using either video- only cues or audio-video cues. The earlier studies had included expres sers who were repressors and nonrepressors, while the present studies included only nonrepressors. Observers viewed/heard selected segments of previously videotaped expressers' self-reported high and low state anxiety experiences. Surprisingly, unlike the earlier studies, state a nxiety was significantly inaccurately evaluated when video-only cues w ere used, but when audio cues were available, state anxiety was correc tly identified. Information in video-only cues seemed to mislead obser vers since low compared with high state anxiety was rated as more anxi ous. These studies, and the significant comparison between studies wit h audio cues present and with audio cues absent, indicate the impact o f auditory cues in detecting state anxiety in others.