Abstract
Consider two individuals, both of whom must undergo an aversive dental procedure. When the first individual arrives, the dentist describes what is going to take place, including when and under what circumstances the person can expect to feel pain. The second individual receives no such preparation from the dentist. Exactly the same procedure is performed on both individuals. Will the person undergoing the predictable procedure experience more or less stress before, during, and after his dental visit than the person undergoing the identical, but unpredictable procedure?
I thank E. Freed, R. Grant, J. Harkavy, M. Hammel, C. Mangan, H. Lief, W. Miller, J. Nelson, and M. Seligman for their help and advice. Partially supported by Grant RR-09069 from the National Institute of Health and Grant MH-19604 from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Miller, S.M. (1980). When is a Little Information a Dangerous Thing? Coping with Stressful Events by Monitoring Versus Blunting. In: Levine, S., Ursin, H. (eds) Coping and Health. NATO Conference Series, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1042-6_8
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