Comparison of the effectiveness of subliminal stimulation and social support on anxiety reduction

In this study we evaluated the effectiveness of psychodynamic subliminal stimulation, using the tachistiscopic presentation of the message, “Mommy and I are one”; in reducing anxiety and facilitating performance on a cognitive task. Psychodynamic subliminal stimulation (Silverman, 1976) was compared to an alternative, social support strategy, involving verbal reassurance by the experimenter (Sarason, 1981). Twenty students (10 males, 10 females) identified as “highly test anxious” (falling in the upper 25% on Sarason’s (1978) Test Anxiety Scale) were assigned to each of 5 conditions, including 3 treatment groups: subliminal stimulation, social support, and combined subliminal stimulation plus social support; and 2 control groups: subliminal stimulation control (using an alternative subliminal message) and no treatment control. We incorporated several methodological contributions: examination of both test anxiety and cognitive performance in a nonclinical sample of both males and females, the utilization of “other treatment”; “combined treatment”; and multiple control groups. The findings suggest a lack of robustness of the effects obtained with either approach (psychodynamic subliminal stimulation or social support).