Psychological Theories of Anxiety

Miller and Mowrer's Theory

They maintain that while painful stimulation motivates escape behavior after a harmful experience, anxiogenic stimuli stand between the individual and the harmful situation, serving as a protective barrier in space and time.

Miller goes on to say that anxiogenic stimuli may become independent of their original position, thereby gaining autonomy and becoming automated, so that anxiety transforms from an adaptive situation into a pathological situation.

Mandler's Theory

He maintains that anxiety is caused by the disruption of behavioral processes. He does not explain this process as a barrier or obstacle to behavior. According to his theories, the process would involve the following steps:

1. Behavioral disruption leads to increased disturbing activation.
2. The disorganization of the action plan generates anxiety.
3. This anxiety, in turn, prompts attempts at alternative responses.
4. If such alternatives are not viable, anxiety increases, producing a state of helplessness.

Spence's Perspective

Spence, belonging to the Iowa school, estimates that neurotic anxiety is 'a semi-motivational variable and dependent largely on situational elements.' This explanation finds its basis in the preparation of anxiety measurement tests, such as the Manifest Anxiety Scale (MAS). Also, based on these assumptions, Eysenck configured the neuroticism trait as a component of personality, given the high correlation between anxiety levels measured by the MAS and questionnaires of neuroticism.

Cattell's Explanation

Maintains a twofold explanation: on the one hand, neurotic anxiety is the product of uncertainty facing stress triggering emotional impact; on the other hand, one might understand it as a phenomenon of fear resulting from anticipating a situation or outcome.

Mischel's Interactionist View

Within his interactionist stance, Mischel argues that neurosis is directly related to the duration and severity of the threat or high stress. This depends mainly on the situational conditions in which the threat is configured.