EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL-EXPECTANCY SETS ON RELAXATION TRAINING WITH PRISONERS.

The effects of expectancy for improvement in relaxation training were examined in a factorial experiment. Relaxation training via audio tape was com- pared with relaxation from a soothing music tape. These two conditions were crossed with three levels of expectancy (high, medium, and low) and the effects measured with three dependent measures of anxiety (A-State, A-Trait, A-Continuum) over three 45-minute training sessions. Results indicated significant anxiety reduction for only the relaxation groups. Although the expectancy manipulation was highly successful as indicated by a manipulation check, the participants' expectancy for improvement was not related to decrements on the anxiety measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]