Cited by 341Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesStress Responses and CortisolStudent Stress and Coping

Cutting stress off at the pass: reducing vigilance and responsiveness to social threat by manipulating attention

Dandeneau, Stéphane D., Baldwin, Mark W., Baccus, Jodene R., Sakellaropoulo, Maya, Pruessner, Jens C.·2007·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Abstract

Personality processes relating to social perception have been shown to play a significant role in the experience of stress. In 5 studies, the authors demonstrate that early stage attentional processes influence the perception of social threat and modify the human stress response. The authors first show that cortisol release in response to a stressful situation correlates with selective attention toward social threat. Second, the authors show in 2 laboratory studies that this attentional pattern, most evident among individuals with low self-esteem, can be modified with a repetitive training task. Next, in a field study, students trained to modify their attentional pattern to reduce vigilance for social threat showed lower self-reported stress related to their final exam. In a final field study with telemarketers, the attentional training task led to increased self-esteem, decreased cortisol and perceived stress responses, higher confidence, and greater work performance. Taken together, these results demonstrate the impact of antecedent-focused strategies on the late-stage consequences of social stress.

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Crossref · 10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.651

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77 of 77 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Training individuals to withdraw their attention from stress-triggering social cues and to orient it toward emotionally comforting social cues was found to scale down physiological and self-reported stress levels.

    “For example, training individuals to withdraw their attention from stress-triggering social cues (e.g., pictures of frowning faces) and to orient it toward emotionally comforting social cues (e.g., pictures of smiling faces) was found to scale down physiological and self-reported stress levels (Dandeneau, Baldwin, Baccus, Sakellaropoulo, & Pruessner, 2007).”

    From The "Why" and "How" of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit (2020) · cites this paper as Dandeneau, Baldwin, Baccus, Sakellaropoulo, & Pruessner, 2007

  • Withdrawing one's attention from cues that elicit specific responses can scale down those responses.

    “Interventions on vigilance rely on the principle that withdrawing one’s attention from cues that elicit specific responses can scale down those responses.”

    From The "Why" and "How" of Narcissism: A Process Model of Narcissistic Status Pursuit (2020) · cites this paper as Dandeneau, Baldwin, Baccus, Sakellaropoulo, & Pruessner, 2007

  • Lack of consensus about why conventional ABM has inconsistent effects has encouraged development of alternative methods with preliminary efficacy data.

    “Lack of consensus regarding why conventional ABM threat-avoidance training has inconsistent effects (discussed earlier) has encouraged the development of various alternative methods which have preliminary data suggesting efficacy”
  • Preliminary nonclinical studies report short-term positive effects with several ABM methods.

    “Preliminary nonclinical studies report short-term positive effects (e.g., reduced stress reactivity after singlesession training) with several methods (A-FACT, gamified ABM, person-identity matching, emotional face visual search training) [18,20,68,70].”
  • Evidence for therapeutic efficacy of alternative ABM training methods is limited.

    “Evidence for the therapeutic efficacy of alternative ABM training methods is limited.”

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Authors
Dandeneau, S. D., Baldwin, M. W., Baccus, J. R., Sakellaropoulo, M., & Pruessner, J. C.
Affiliations
  • McGill University (CA)
  • Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Published
2007
Volume
93
Issue
4
Pages
651-666
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
OpenAlex
W2117995875
Cited by
341
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 30
FWCI
21.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • La Fondation Baxter et Alma Ricard
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (67071)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
Keywords
social danger, attentional bias, stress response, cortisol, self-esteem, attention training, sustained attention, perceived stress, exam stress, telemarketers, employee performance, confidence, social perception
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Attention, Brain, Facial Expression, Female, Habituation, Psychophysiologic, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Internal-External Control, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Rejection, Psychology, Self Concept, Set, Psychology, Social Perception, Stress, Psychological

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