INTERPRETING PALMAR SWEAT PRINTS - NOT-SO-SIMPLE MEASURE

PSP [palmar sweat print] measures obtained in an outpaient dental emergency room were used as part of an empirical study of the differences in reactions of black, white and Puerto Rican patients to a stressful situation. There were no differences between ethnic and racial groups in all PSP measures. Significant differences as a function of sex were found for total number of sweat pores, with females showing a higher number. In number of open and the ratio of open to total pores, a significant sex difference was obtained, with females having an increased number and ratio of open pores in the treatment condition over the pretreatment condition and males showing no change in the same comparison. The ratio measure showed that males and females started at the same point in the range of responding, even though they had different numbers of sweat pores. Sex differences appear to be more than differences in the range of responding. The high correlation between number of open pores and ratio of open to total pores indicated that for this sample, at least, these measures could be used interchangeably. The greater total number of sweat pores might be explained simply on the basis of finger size. Females generally have smaller fingers. A constant finger area was measured and therefore it was likely to obtain a greater proportion of the total finger for females than for males. Finger size is unlikely to account for the different type of responding for males and females, since this difference was also obtained for the ratio of open to total number of pores, thus eliminating the effect of differences in total number of pores. While visiting the dentist, females express emotion and maintain this dependency. Males cannot directly show aggression toward the dentist who is trying to relieve their discomfort. They would have to control their expressions of emotion.