The Biopsychosocial Model of Arousal Regulation

Abstract

An integrative, interdisciplinary approach is advocated to represent the reality of arousal regulation processes. This chapter describes the results from a multidisciplinary, integrative approach to the study of arousal regulation, integrating not only dispositional but also cognitive, physiological, and social dimensions. Arousal plays an important theoretical role in many categories of behavior––namely, intense emotional experiences and expressions such as terror, rage, lust, and ecstasy. A major problem created by a unidimensional framework for arousal regulation is illustrated in the chapter and such arousal can be indexed by using subjective or objective measures such as stressfulness. The arousal-regulation processes operate in similar fashion for both genders. Moreover, an explanation for the gender effects in the zero-sum experimental game study and implications of work and chart future directions for empirical endeavors are also discussed in the chapter. A multidisciplinary biopsychosocial approach represents a much more fruitful approach for understanding arousal regulation.