Social anxiety, cortisol, and early-stage friendship
Abstract
Socially anxious people report less closeness to others, but very little research has examined how social anxiety is related to closeness in real-time social interactions. The present study investigated social anxiety, closeness, and cortisol reactivity in zero-acquaintance interactions between 84 same-sex dyads (168 participants). Dyads engaged in either a high or low self-disclosure discussion task and completed self-report measures of closeness and desired closeness post-task. Salivary cortisol was collected before, during, and after the self-disclosure task. Multilevel models indicated that in the high self-disclosure condition, individuals higher in social anxiety displayed flatter declines in cortisol than those lower in social anxiety; cortisol declines were not significantly related to social anxiety in the low self-disclosure condition. Further, across both conditions, individual’s social anxiety was associated with decreased levels of closeness and desired closeness, particularly when individuals were paired with partners higher in social anxiety. These findings are discussed in relation to previous work on hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function, social anxiety, and interpersonal closeness.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
People with SAD show differential cortisol reactivity in a high self-disclosure context and evidence less of a decline in cortisol when self-disclosing compared to people lower in social anxiety.
“People with SAD also show differential cortisol reactivity in a high self-disclosure context and evidence less of a decline in cortisol when self-disclosing compared to people lower in social anxiety (71).”
Cites
Multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions
(1992) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.29-3352 · Cited by 36,644 · see citing works
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
(2018) · Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.5505/kpd · Cited by 13,703 · see citing works
Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316 · Cited by 7,272 · see citing works
Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.-M., & Hellhammer, D. H. (2008) · Neuropsychobiology · doi:10.1159/000119004 · Cited by 6,093 · see citing works
Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596 · Cited by 5,157 · see citing works
Attachment theory and close relationships
(1998) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-6513 · Cited by 3,642 · see citing works
Mattick, R. P., & Clarke, J. C. (1998) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(97)10031-6 · Cited by 3,367 · see citing works
A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia
Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(97)00022-3 · Cited by 2,987 · see citing works
Implications of rejection sensitivity for intimate relationships
Downey, G., & Feldman, S. I. (1996) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.6.1327 · Cited by 2,110 · see citing works
Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7 · Cited by 2,091 · see citing works
The Actor–Partner Interdependence Model: A model of bidirectional effects in developmental studies
Cook, W., & Kenny, D. (2005) · International Journal of Behavioral Development · doi:10.1080/01650250444000405 · Cited by 1,952 · see citing works
Social Anxiety among Adolescents: Linkages with Peer Relations and Friendships
La Greca, A. M., & Lopez, N. (1998) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1022684520514 · Cited by 1,656 · see citing works
Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment
Franklin, M. E. (1996) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(96)00036-0 · Cited by 1,389 · see citing works
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.42-2265 · Cited by 1,385 · see citing works
Influence of social network on occurrence of dementia: a community-based longitudinal study
Fratiglioni, L., Wang, H.-X., Ericsson, K., Maytan, M., & Winblad, B. (2000) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(00)02113-9 · Cited by 1,361 · see citing works
Hofmann, S. G. (2007) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506070701421313 · Cited by 1,064 · see citing works
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
Bentley, M. (1939) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1416765 · Cited by 925 · see citing works
The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings
Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, R. D., & Bator, R. J. (1997) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167297234003 · Cited by 902 · see citing works
Ditzen, B., Schaer, M., Gabriel, B., Bodenmann, G., Ehlert, U., & Heinrichs, M. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.10.011 · Cited by 784 · see citing works
Heimberg, R. G., Mueller, G. P., Holt, C. S., Hope, D. A., & Liebowitz, M. R. (1992) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(05)80308-9 · Cited by 740 · see citing works
Loneliness, social network size, and immune response to influenza vaccination in college freshmen
Pressman, S. D., Cohen, S., Miller, G. E., Barkin, A., Rabin, B. S., & Treanor, J. J. (2005) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.3.297 · Cited by 608 · see citing works
Good stress, bad stress and oxidative stress: Insights from anticipatory cortisol reactivity
Aschbacher, K., O’Donovan, A., Wolkowitz, O. M., Dhabhar, F. S., Su, Y., & Epel, E. S. (2013) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.02.004 · Cited by 459 · see citing works
The epidemiology of social phobia: Findings from the Duke Epidemiological Catchment Area Study
Davidson, J. R. T., Hughes, D. L., George, L. K., & Blazer, D. G. (1993) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291700025484 · Cited by 435 · see citing works
Cohen, S., Schwartz, J. E., Epel, E. S., Kirschbaum, C., Sidney, S., & Seeman, T. E. (2006) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000195967.51768.ea · Cited by 404 · see citing works
The “trouble” with salivary testosterone
Granger, D. A., Shirtcliff, E. A., Booth, A., Kivlighan, K. T., & Schwartz, E. B. (2004) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2004.02.005 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Social Environment Effects on Health and Aging
Seeman, T. E., & Crimmins, E. M. (2001) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2001.tb02749.x · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Loneliness predicts pain, depression, and fatigue: Understanding the role of immune dysregulation
Jaremka, L. M., Fagundes, C. P., Glaser, R., Bennett, J. M., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt‐Glaser, J. K. (2012) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.11.016 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
Salivary Cortisol Levels in Persons With and Without Different Anxiety Disorders
Vreeburg, S. A., Zitman, F. G., van Pelt, J., DeRijk, R. H., Verhagen, J. C. M., van Dyck, R., Hoogendijk, W. J. G., Smit, J. H., & Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2010) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0b013e3181d2f0c8 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Gächter, S., Starmer, C., & Tufano, F. (2015) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129478 · Cited by 311 · see citing works
Adam, E. K. (2001) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/s0306-4530(00)00045-7 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Social anxiety and peer relationships in early adolescence: a prospective analysis
Vernberg, E. M., Abwender, D. A., Ewell, K. K., & Beery, S. H. (1992) · Journal of Clinical Child Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15374424jccp2102_11 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Methods in social neuroscience
Harmon‐Jones, E., & Beer, J. S. (2009) · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Leary, M. R., Haupt, A. L., Strausser, K. S., et al. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1290 · Cited by 269 · see citing works
Is social anxiety associated with impairment in close relationships? A preliminary investigation
Davila, J., & Beck, J. G. (2002) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(02)80037-5 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Diurnal cortisol decline is related to coronary calcification: CARDIA study
Matthews, K., Schwartz, J., Cohen, S., & Seeman, T. (2006) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000244071.42939.0e · Cited by 240 · see citing works
Salivary Testosterone Determination in Studies of Child Health and Development
Granger, D. A., Schwartz, E. B., Booth, A. D., & Arentz, M. (1999) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1006/hbeh.1998.1492 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Sparrevohn, R. M., & Rapee, R. M. (2009) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.07.016 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Marital satisfaction, recovery from work, and diurnal cortisol among men and women.
Saxbe, D., Repetti, R. L., & Nishina, A. (2008) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.27.1.15 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Kashdan, T., & Roberts, J. E. (2007) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2006.05.009 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Connor-Smith, J. K., & Compas, B. E. (2002) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1023/a:1013889504101 · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Sjögren, E., Leanderson, P., & Kristenson, M. (2006) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15327558ijbm1303_2 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Social anxiety and self-protective communication style in close relationships
Cuming, S., & Rapee, R. M. (2010) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2009.09.010 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Relationships between cortisol level, mortality and chronic diseases in older persons
Schoorlemmer, R. M. M., Peeters, G. M. E. E., van Schoor, N. M., & Lips, P. T. A. M. (2009) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03552.x · Cited by 129 · see citing works
DeSantis, A. S., Diez–Roux, A. V., Hajat, A., Aiello, A. E., Golden, S. H., Jenny, N. S., Seeman, T. E., & Shea, S. (2011) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.11.009 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Wenzel, A. E., Graff-Dolezal, J., Macho, M., & Brendle, J. R. (2004) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.03.010 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Perceived Partner Responsiveness Predicts Diurnal Cortisol Profiles 10 Years Later
Slatcher, R. B., Selçuk, E., & Ong, A. D. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797615575022 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Self-citationSubjective, Autonomic, and Endocrine Reactivity during Social Stress in Children with Social Phobia
Krämer, M., Seefeldt, W. L., Heinrichs, N., Tuschen‐Caffier, B., Schmitz, J., Wolf, O. T., & Jens Blechert, A. (2011) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-011-9548-9 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Furlan, P., DeMartinis, N. A., Schweizer, E. E., Rickels, K., & Lucki, I. (2001) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(00)01126-4 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Daytime cortisol and stress reactivity in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder
Ellenbogen, M. A., Hodgins, S., Walker, C.-D., Couture, S., & Adam, S. (2006) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2006.08.004 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Social Anxiety as a Basis for Friendship Selection and Socialization in Adolescents' Social Networks
Zalk, N. V., van Zalk, M. H. W., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2010) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00682.x · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Adam, E. K., Vrshek‐Schallhorn, S., Kendall, A. D., Mineka, S., Zinbarg, R. E., & Craske, M. G. (2014) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.02.014 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
Peer Rejection and HPA Activity in Middle Childhood: Friendship Makes a Difference
Peters, E. M., Riksen‐Walraven, J. M., Cillessen, A. H. N., & de Weerth, C. (2011) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01647.x · Cited by 109 · see citing works
The Motivated Expression of Embarrassment Following a Self‐Presentational Predicament
Leary, M. R., Landel, J. L., & Patton, K. M. (1996) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00524.x · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Kashdan, T. B., Volkmann, J. R., Breen, W. E., & Han, S. C. (2006) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2006.08.007 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Is Social Anxiety Associated With Both Interpersonal Avoidance and Interpersonal Dependence?
Darcy, K., Davila, J., & Beck, J. G. (2005) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-005-3163-4 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Klumpp, H., & Amir, N. (2009) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-009-9251-0 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Co-ruminating increases stress hormone levels in women
Byrd‐Craven, J., Geary, D. C., Rose, A. J., & Ponzi, D. (2008) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2007.12.002 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
A Clinician's Guide to Maintaining and Enhancing Close Relationships
Harvey, J. H., & Wenzel, A. E. (2001) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781410603999 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Potoczniak, D. J., Aldea, M. A., & DeBlaere, C. (2007) · Journal of Counseling Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0167.54.4.447 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Stress, Social Support, and Cortisol: Inverse Associations?
Rosal, M. C., King, J. A., Ma, Y., & Reed, G. W. (2004) · Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.3200/bmed.30.1.11-22 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
The roles of the social rank and attachment systems in social anxiety
Aderka, I. M., Weisman, O., Shahar, G., & Gilboa‐Schechtman, E. (2009) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.03.014 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Social Anxiety, Motivation, Self-Disclosure, and Computer-Mediated Friendship
Qing, T. (2011) · Communication Research · doi:10.1177/0093650211420137 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Do interpersonal features of social anxiety influence the development of depressive symptoms?
Grant, D. M., Beck, J. G., Farrow, S. M., & Davila, J. (2007) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699930600713036 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Stress sensitivity and stress generation in social anxiety disorder: A temporal process approach.
Farmer, A. S., & Kashdan, T. B. (2015) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/abn0000036 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Uhde, T. W., Tancer, M. E., Gelernter, C. S., & Vittone, B. J. (1994) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/0165-0327(94)90076-0 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Smith, R. L. (2015) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.08.020 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Hiding the Self and Social Anxiety: The Core Extrusion Schema Measure
Rodebaugh, T. (2009) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-007-9143-0 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity in prepubertal children with social phobia
West, D. V., Claes, S. J., Sulon, J., & Deboutte, D. (2008) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.03.006 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Crişan, L. G., Vulturar, R., Miclea, M., & Miu, A. C. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00005 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Anxiety doesn’t become you: How attachment anxiety compromises relational opportunities.
McClure, M. J., & Lydon, J. E. (2013) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0034532 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Faravelli, C., Amedei, S. G., Rotella, F., Faravelli, L., Palla, A., Consoli, G., Ricca, V., Batini, S., Sauro, C. L., Spiti, A., et al. (2010) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291710000115 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
The roles of testosterone and cortisol in friendship formation
Ketay, S., Welker, K. M., & Slatcher, R. B. (2017) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.11.022 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Self-citationAttachment predicts cortisol response and closeness in dyadic social interaction
Ketay, S., & Beck, L. A. (2017) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.03.009 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Self-citationPolack, R. G., Snir, A., Berenson, K. R., Downey, G., & Rafaeli, E. (2014) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0036929 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Kashdan, T. B., & Wenzel, A. E. (2005) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(05)80115-7 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
I'll Go if You Will: Do Shy Persons Utilize Social Surrogates?
Bradshaw, S. D. (1998) · Journal of Social and Personal Relationships · doi:10.1177/0265407598155005 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Social Anxiety and Social Surrogacy in College Roommate Relationships
Boucher, E. M., & Cummings, J. A. (2017) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1002/per.2090 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Family Relationships and Cortisol in Everyday Life
Slatcher, R. B. (2014) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199936632.003.0004 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Luoma, J., & Lear, M. K. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.733893 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“People with SAD also show differential cortisol reactivity in a high self-disclosure context and evidence less of a decline in cortisol when self-disclosing compared to people lower in social anxiety (71).”
BackgroundSelf-disclosure is associated with adrenocortical attunement between new acquaintances
Thorson, K. R., Ketay, S., Roy, A. R. K., & Welker, K. M. (2021) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105323 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Ketay, S., Welker, K. M., Beck, L. A., Thorson, K. R., & Slatcher, R. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Hartford (US)
- University of Massachusetts Boston (US)
- Emerson College (US)
- New York University (US)
- Wayne State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ketay, Sarah
- Venue
- Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-05-17
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1954-1974
- ISSN
- 0265-4075 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-3608
- OpenAlex
- W4229934316
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 78
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4
- FWCI
- 4.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- social anxiety, cortisol response, relationship closeness, self-disclosure, same-sex dyads, salivary cortisol, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, friendship
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
