Social identification and contagious stress reactions

•We replicated Engert et al.’s (2014, PNEC) findings.•Observing another person in a stressful situation elicits cortisol stress contagion.•Additionally, it also elicits affective stress contagion.•Stress contagion was not moderated by social identity manipulation. Contagious stress describes the tra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019-04, Vol.102, p.58-62
Main Authors: Erkens, Valerie A., Nater, Urs M., Hennig, Jürgen, Häusser, Jan A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affective stress
Affective Symptoms - psychology
Contagious stress
Cortisol
Emotions - physiology
Female
Humans
Hydrocortisone - analysis
Male
Saliva - chemistry
Social Identification
Social identity
Stress, Psychological - metabolism
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:•We replicated Engert et al.’s (2014, PNEC) findings.•Observing another person in a stressful situation elicits cortisol stress contagion.•Additionally, it also elicits affective stress contagion.•Stress contagion was not moderated by social identity manipulation. Contagious stress describes the transmission of stress from a stressed person to an observer, which we examined at the neuroendocrine and the affective level. We tested whether a shared social identity moderates contagious stress. Ninety-four participants participated in groups of four. After inducing either a shared social or a personal identity, participants observed a confederate undergoing the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), a standardized social-evaluative stressor. Salivary cortisol and affective stress were assessed multiple times before and after the observation of the TSST. We found a physiologically significant contagious stress reaction on a neuroendocrine level for 17% of all participants. Additionally, we found an increase in observers’ self-reported stress. Contrary to our expectations, the manipulation of social identity had no effect on contagious stress. Our variation of the TSST is a viable methodological strategy to increase standardization as well as experimental economy in studies examining contagious stress.
ISSN:0306-4530
1873-3360
DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.034