Effects of a supportive or an unsupportive audience on biological and psychological responses to stress.
Abstract
Although social support is related to substantial benefits for health and well-being, research has uncovered qualifications to its benefits. In a test of the psychological and biological impact of an audience on responses to laboratory stress challenges, 183 participants going through the Trier Social Stress Test experienced either (a) an unsupportive audience, (b) a supportive audience, or (c) no audience. Both audience conditions produced significantly stronger cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure responses to the stress tasks, relative to the no-audience control, even though the supportive audience was rated as supportive. Contrary to hypotheses offered by several theories, these effects were not moderated by self-esteem, individual differences in psychological resources, or baseline social support. Psychological resources and baseline social support were, however, tied to more beneficial biological and psychological profiles at baseline and at recovery in some cases. It was concluded that when one must perform stressful tasks in front of an audience, evaluative concerns may outweigh the potential benefits of a supportive audience.
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From From stress to inflammation and major depressive disorder: A social signal transduction theory of depression. (2014) · cites this paper as cf. Taylor et al., 2010
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- Authors
- Taylor, S. E., Seeman, T. E., Eisenberger, N. I., Kozanian, T. A., Moore, A. N., & Moons, W. G.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 2010
- Volume
- 98
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 47-56
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2116454264
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 3.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (SES-0525713)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- social support, audience effects, stress response, cortisol, heart rate, blood pressure, Trier Social Stress Test, self-esteem, psychological resources, stress recovery, evaluative concerns, laboratory stress
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Affect, Blood Pressure, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Nonverbal Communication, Social Support, Stress, Psychological, Feedback, Psychological, Young Adult
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