Two for the seesaw: Requester and requested

Abstract

Research on emotion conducted so far has usually ignored situations where the person experiences a certain emotion, but where the external stimulus that evoked and upholds this emotion suddenly disappears. This kind of situation, however, is relatively common in everyday life. This article attempts to recognize certain consequences of those conditions under which the stimuli justifying our experience of such emotional states as fear or anxiety suddenly disappear. Research done to data by the author and his colleagues indicates increased compliance of the subject when addressed with various requests, commands or suggestion in the situation termed here “emotional see-saw” or “fear-then-relief”. © 2011, Versita. All rights reserved.