Using heart rate variability measures in social science research

In this chapter we review practical and technical dimensions of using heart rate variability (HRV) to inform research in social science, based on experience gained in research projects spanning the fields of economics, psychology, and political science. HRV reflects physiological processes that mirror the psychological and cognitive processes of a measured individual; however, its exact interpretation is often unclear to researchers new to HRV. Furthermore, generating and interpreting HRV data comes with some practical problems. In this chapter we provide a discussion of the usefulness of HRV, as well as technical and nontechnical advice, intended as general guidelines. We include an intuitive introduction to HRV, what it measures, what type of data it creates, typical properties of the data, and how research using HRV may best be designed. We also suggest cases in which other methods or approaches to measure latent psychological and cognitive processes may be superior to HRV.