Placebo Effects and Fear of Public Speaking

Abstract

Placebo effects have been demonstrated to be robust in hundreds of studies. Prior research has demonstrated that placebos can reduce passively experienced symptoms, such as migraine headaches. Whether a placebo can help a person actively fight a behavioral symptom, such as fear of public speaking, has not yet been explored. The current study would expand on prior research to test whether a placebo, disguised as the beta-blocker Propranolol (known for its fear reducing capacities), could reduce the level of fear experienced by phobic individuals during a brief public speaking activity. Participants would be students enrolled at a public, northeastern college. They would be identified using the Fear of Public Speaking Scale (PSAS, Bartholomay & Houlihan 2016) and the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS, Leibowitz 1987), and would be randomly assigned to one of three groups: the active placebo group – deceived to believe that the placebo pill is in fact Propranolol, the open-label placebo group – honestly informed about the placebo, or a no treatment control group. Participants would perform the speaking task at baseline, and one week later, directly following the intervention. We expect the results would show that the active placebo group would speak for a significantly longer time, and report significantly reduced fear levels, compared to the open-label group and to the no treatment group. If the results support our hypotheses, it would show that presenting a placebo as a real drug activates phobic participants to fight their fear when the symptom is behavioral in nature, rather than just reduce passively experienced symptoms. The results may show that there are potential therapeutic uses of deceiving people with active placebos in treatment.