Linda Scariot

Publication Date

8-1989

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Stephen Schnacke, Dwight Cline, William Floyd, Louella Fong

Comments

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Degree Program

Educational Leadership

Degree Type

Specialist in Education

Abstract

Premenstrual Syndrome is classically defined as a recurrent, cyclical cluster of physiological, emotional, psychological, and behavioral symptoms which arise in the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and then subside with the onset of menses. Proposed etiologies have been primarily biological, psychological, and sociological. The biopsychosocial approach, an integration of the above, offers a holistic, systemic perspective of PMS, emphasizing the interactive effects of mind, body, and environment.

Stress is recognized as an environmental factor that can magnify and exacerbate premenstrual symptomatology. Likewise, PMS can cause the state of tension labeled "stress." An individual's reaction to stress may be both psychological and physiological.

Twenty-two women, claiming to experience PMS participated in the present study designed to provide evidence of premenstrual personality and cognitive processing alterations. Following retrospective and prospective confirmation of moderate to severe cyclically recurring premenstrual symptomatology, subjects were administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator premenstrually and intermenstrually in counterbalanced order.

Data obtained from the participants were subjected to a two-tailed t-test of correlated differences. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference on the Extraversion/Introversion scale nor on the Sensing/Intuition scale. However, a significant change (p=.005) was indicated on the Thinking/Feeling scale, which describes the way one prefers to make decisions (i.e. cognitive processing), and on the Judging/Perceiving scale (p=.002), which describes the lifestyle one adopts relating to how one takes in information and subsequently processes it.

Further analysis revealed that while there was no significant descent or movement to the inferior function, there was significant movement to the tertiary function (p=.007). Jungian theory suggests that when confronted with stress, fatigue, or crisis, individuals will show a marked tendency to revert from their dominant mode of functioning (i.e. their most preferred, most developed process) toward their less developed tertiary or inferior functions. As a result of a stress-induced shift, the individual may unconsciously employ less developed, less effective methods of perception or judgment to deal with the environment.

This change in personality preference type, and related cognitive processing and lifestyle alterations, are often reflected in the contradictory, uncharacteristically negative thinking, the emotional lability, and the dysfunctional behaviors that are often experienced and reported by women in the premenstrual phase of the menstrual cycle. The integration and summation of these cognitive, affective, and behavioral symptoms often result in the women being perceived as "acting out of character" as compared to her "normal" asymptomatic self. Further, a self-perceived "loss of control" is reported as the most common psychological fear that women experience in the premenstruum.

Several recommendations were formulated regarding future study of premenstrually-related cognitive alterations, as well as further investigation into the correlation of premenstrual symptomatology and MBTI personality type. An understanding of unique symptom patterns and symptom variability is suggested as a precursor to the creation and implementation of psychological therapeutic intervention.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Biological Psychology | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Women's Studies

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