What is it about?
Close relationships are crucial for our physiological and psychological health and well-being, because they provide a buffer against stress. In this research we used a standardized stress induction task to demonstrate that individuals with high levels of social anxiety tend to benefit less from the buffering effect of their partners, especially in terms of the negative emotions experienced while facing the stressor. In parallel, we have also shown that their cardiac stress response is still buffered by the social support.
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Why is it important?
This research is important because 1) highlights that the relationship among social support, stress reactivity, and individual differences in emotional regulation is more complex than initially thought, and 2) demonstrates a dissociation of the effect of close relationships on the two domains, psychological and physiological, of the stress response.
Perspectives
I hope that this article could inspire novel research targeting a more precise characterization of the mechanisms that make social support such a valuable asset for our ability to deal with minor and major stress in life.
Antonio Maffei
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Social anxiety influences the stress-buffering potential of social presence: Evidence from cardiovascular and affective reactivity under stress, PLOS One, June 2025, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325303.
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