Situation-Specific Scripts for Threat in Blood Fearful and Nonfearful Individuals

Self-schemata for threatening situations were examined in blood fearful and nonfearful individuals. In the context of 5 scenarios involving blood, injections, hospitals, or injury, participants listed events that they typically experience in these situations or events that occur when they witness another individual in these situations. Blood fearful and nonfearful individuals generally listed sequences of events corresponding to a similar macrostructure. However, blood fearful individuals included more negative emotional and physiological events than nonfearful individuals, and several of their sequences reflected higher levels of fear and lower levels of positive affect. These results suggest that the self-schemata of blood fearful individuals for situations involving harm or threat consist of both normal and maladaptive elements.