ON ANXIETY-SPECIFIC ACTIONS OF TRANQUILIZERS

The paper is concerned with the question: Can different kinds of emoti ons be influenced by tranquilizers which according to several theories (e.g., Gray, 1982) should only affect anxiety? In order to examine th e kind of emotional effects of tranquilizers 144 female students recei ved either 5 mg diazepam, 2 mg of the triazolobenzodiazepine GP 55129, or placebo and were then assigned to one of four conditions designed to induce anxiety, anger, happiness, or no emotional changes (neutral control). Self-reports of anxiety, anger, and elation were considered as indicators of specific emotional states; questionnaire measures of general excitement and of bodily arousal symptoms, heart rate, and blo od pressure were regarded as indicators of nonspecific emotional chang es. All three emotion conditions induced increases in arousal which we re most pronounced in the anxiety situation. The anxiety and the happi ness situation but not the anger situation proved to be effective in i nducing the intended specific emotion. Both drugs reduced self-reporte d anxiety in the anxiety situation. They did not affect self-reported elation in the happiness situation. Differences in the valence (positi ve versus negative) and in the intensity of the emotional changes indu ced by the happiness and the anxiety situation are discussed as possib le reasons for the latter results.