Hormonal contagion: Physiological covariation between friends
Abstract
Friendships constitute important relationships, and often function to reduce stress, but have been understudied. While engaging in co-ruminations, close female friends are adrenocortically attuned. In mother-child dyads, infants coordinate their stress response with their caregivers without experiencing the stressor themselves. The current study used a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test to examine whether i) female friends (101 dyads) are physiologically attuned (i.e., cortisol and progesterone); ii) attunement differs as a function of social acceptance or rejection external to the dyad; and, iii) friends can 'catch' a stress response only through non-verbal cues. Friends showed both cortisol and progesterone attunement at the beginning of the study. Friends showed cortisol attunement across time and conditions. Friends' progesterone levels were significantly, but negatively associated across time and conditions. Friends did not, however, show a stress contagion as a result of one friend experiencing stress. These findings suggest that cortisol and progesterone play different roles in the attunement of stress and subsequent affiliation.
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- OSU Dissertations [11222]