According to this assumption, we hypothesized that the strength in the finger musculature in the anxiety condition will increase significantly for the experimental group but not for the control group from T1 to T2. Method Participants Twenty-two male and 28 female subjects (M = 23.30 years, SD = 2.19) with an age range between 20 and 32 years old participated in this study. They were recruited via announcements in local newspapers

and at the campus of the local university. The Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical subjects were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Both groups were comparable with respect to age ([experimental group] EG: M = 24.10 years, SD = 2.05; [control group] CG: M = 22.50 years, SD = 2.34). The study was carried out in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant prior to the experiment and the participants received no compensation for participation. Induction of anxiety The emotion of anxiety was induced via the recall of a personal emotional Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical episode which was connected to this emotion. Thus, participants had to imagine a very anxious moment in their Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical lives where they could still feel this anxiety at the current time and were asked to relive this anxiety. There

is already evidence that self-generating an emotion is an appropriate method to induce an emotional state-like anxiety (e.g., Damasio et al. 2000; Rathschlag and Memmert 2013). Previous results by Rathschlag and Memmert (2013) demonstrated that participants who self-generated the emotion of anxiety experienced significantly more anxiety in this condition compared with other emotions (e.g., happiness, anger, and sadness). These Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical finding are in line with a lot of other studies (e.g., Lench and Levine 2005; Stopa and Waters 2005; Lench et al. 2011) and showed that anxiety can be generated in this way. In addition, participants were Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical asked to recall the same personal emotional episode for both times of measurement. Measurement of the intensity of anxiety We used a LS to assess the degree of which

participants experienced the emotion of anxiety at the current time in relation to their anxious selleck screening library memory. Participants rated the emotional intensity of their anxiety, using a 9-point LS (emotional intensity: 1 = no anxiety to 9 = most anxiety). Measurement of state and trait anxiety In addition, anxiety was recorded using the standardized State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Laux et al. 1981). The STAI is a self-description questionnaire Carfilzomib including two nondependent scales, the applied state-anxiety scale (STAI State) and the trait-anxiety scale (STAI Trait), each of them consisting of 20 items. The scale sum values range from 20 to 80. The STAI State assesses how respondents feel “right now, at this moment” (e.g., “I feel at ease;” “I feel upset”), and the STAI Trait targets how respondents “generally feel” (e.g., “I am a steady person;” “I lack self-confidence”).