Definition
The physiological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responsiveness of individuals to particular variations in environmental conditions, particularly stressful ones
Introduction
The concept of arousal plays a pivotal role in many psychological theories. Arousal is frequently noted in the performance and behavioral health literature and has played an important role in theories of personality. Determining or achieving an “optimum level of arousal” is a typical goal or target for many psychological treatments, and it was a key to Eysenck’s early theory of personality. We provide a discussion of arousability from a historical perspective and the role of arousal in theories of personality as well as the tools used to measure this construct. Furthermore, an example of arousability’s role in disorders of arousal, such as insomnia, is discussed.
(Hyper)Arousal as a Trait
Arousability, as a...
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LaGrotte, C., Fernandez-Mendoza, J. (2016). Arousability. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_731-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_731-1
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