LIE SCORES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LESS CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY TO BARORECEPTOR STIMULATION AND TO MENTAL ARITHMETIC STRESS

This study examined the relationship between Lie (or social desirabili ty) scores and cardiovascular reactivity to both mental arithmetic (a stressor) and baroreceptor stimulation. The Lie scale of the German Ve rsion of the Eysenck Personality Inventory was found to be negatively associated (r = -0.46) with systolic blood pressure reactivity to a co mputer administered mental arithmetic task in a sample of 23 adult men . Similarly. Lie scores were inversely related to the heart rate chang e elicited by stimulation of the carotid baroreceptors (r = -0.495). R esults are consistent with other findings of higher Lie or social desi rability scores being associated with diminished responsiveness to a v ariety of stimuli that are neither neutral nor confounded by a social desirability component (including sexual arousal, acoustic evoked pote ntials, and pain tolerance). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.