Electro dermal Lability: An Attempt to Measure Its Psychological Correlates

Differences in electro dermal lability (frequency of spontaneous fluctuations in skin resistance) have been shown to predict certain types of behavior. Further, electro dermal lability has in some cases been related in psychometric measures of personality. The purpose or this experiment was to develop a self‐report inventory which would predict electro dermal lability. A pool of 478 items was administered to 120 male undergraduate students. These students were subsequently tested for electro dermal lability level. Corelational and X² analyses were employed to identify items which were significantly related to electro dermal lability. Then these items were subjected m linear discriminate function analysis to determine their optimal weighting. Although 34 items were initial) identified as significant predictors, split‐sample analyses suggested that the predictors would nut replicate. Previous findings which have suggested a relationship between Electro Dermal lability and personality variables such as anxiety were discussed. It was concluded that although electro dermal lability is a reliable predictor of certain responses, it is not readily related to traditional self‐descriptive psychometrics. The interpretation supports the view (hat autonomic functions are independent of self‐awareness.