Manipulating Threat and Challenge States: How Physiological Stress Affects Cognitive Processing and Attitudes Toward Migration

Public debates about migration often evoke stress responses that could shape how people think and form judgements. Challenge and threat reflect distinct stress appraisals — approach-focused vs. avoidance-focused responses — that are linked to different cardiovascular patterns and can serve as signals that influence cognitive construal and evaluative judgments. We tested whether a brief induction of challenge versus threat would influence attitudes toward migration, and whether any effect would be linked to differences in cognitive construal, as suggested by appraisal accounts and construal level theory. Students (N = 179) were randomly assigned to a challenge or threat induction during a short task. We recorded cardiovascular responses, then measured general and policy attitudes toward migration and assessed construal with the Behavioral Identification Form. The induction produced physiological differences between conditions toward the end of the task, confirming that the states...Show morePublic debates about migration often evoke stress responses that could shape how people think and form judgements. Challenge and threat reflect distinct stress appraisals — approach-focused vs. avoidance-focused responses — that are linked to different cardiovascular patterns and can serve as signals that influence cognitive construal and evaluative judgments. We tested whether a brief induction of challenge versus threat would influence attitudes toward migration, and whether any effect would be linked to differences in cognitive construal, as suggested by appraisal accounts and construal level theory. Students (N = 179) were randomly assigned to a challenge or threat induction during a short task. We recorded cardiovascular responses, then measured general and policy attitudes toward migration and assessed construal with the Behavioral Identification Form. The induction produced physiological differences between conditions toward the end of the task, confirming that the states were successfully induced. However, attitudes and construal did not differ by condition. These results suggest that, in this laboratory setting, inducing challenge versus threat—even when it yields physiological differences late in the task—did not translate into changes in thinking style or migration attitudes. I note the main limitations and recommend future studies that measure the mediator before the outcomes and use direct, cognition-focused manipulations.Show less

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Manipulating Threat and Challenge States: How Physiological Stress Affects Cognitive Processing and Attitudes Toward Migration