РЕЙТИНГ НА ЗАПЛАШИТЕЛНИ СТИМУЛИ
RATING OF THREATENING STIMULI

Summary/Abstract: The present study aims to test the degree of threat of a set of visual stimuli in a Bulgarian sample. We selected 108 pictures from the International Affective Picture Set (IAPS) and 4 from the Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS). According to their values on the IAPS 42 Българско списание по психология, 2024, бр. 1pleasantness scale, we divided the pictures into 2 groups: threatening and non-threatening, while controlling for the level of arousal. The threat stimuli group consisted of pictures of animals (N = 16), nature pictures (N = 8), violent scenes (N = 16), and weapons (N = 16). The non-threatening stimuli group consisted of matching pictures of animals (N = 16), nature pictures (N = 8), pleasant situations (N = 16), and food (N = 16). A total of 62 (52 female) students from the New Bulgarian University between the ages of 19 and 46 (M = 23.51; SD = 5.93) participated in the study. Participants rated the 112 pictures on Likert scales (1 to 5) for valence, arousal, and threat. The results showed that the threatening stimuli were perceived as more threatening compared to the non-threatening group. Comparing the results obtained from the individual stimulus categories, a statistically significant difference was observed between the threat ratings without the influence of arousal. The only exception is the category of nature pictures, which were rated as eliciting higher arousal in the non threatening condition. Our results show that selected stimuli are perceived as threatening and can be used to induce a sense of threat.

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