Endocrine and emotional response to exclusion among women and men; cortisol, salivary alpha amylase, and mood

Abstract

Background and Objectives Social exclusion is ubiquitous and painful. Evolutionary models indicate sex differences in coping with social stress. Recent empirical data suggest different sex patterns in hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic–adrenal–medullary (SAM) reactivity. The present study sought to test this hypothesis. Design We examined differences in endocrine and emotional response to exclusion by using a virtual ball tossing paradigm (Cyberball). Saliva samples and mood ratings were collected to reflect levels before, and repeatedly following, exclusion. Methods The sample included 21 women and 23 men. Cortisol and salivary alpha amylase (sAA), biomarkers of the HPA and SAM systems, respectively, were used as indices of two arms of stress response. Results Following exclusion, all participants experienced mood worsening followed by mood improvement, with men reporting less distress than women. Women evinced decline in cortisol following the Cyberball task, whereas men’s cortisol levels showed a non-significant rise, and then decline, following exclusion. Conclusions Our results concur with previous findings showing SAM reactivity to be gender-neutral and HPA reactivity to be gender-divergent. Additional studies are needed to examine sex-specific response to social exclusion. Implications for individual differences in recovery from stress are discussed.

Effects of Social Exclusion on Cardiovascular and Affective Reactivity to a Socially Evaluative Stressor

“…First, we investigated the effects of social exclusion, relative to inclusion, on immediate CV and affective responsiveness. Consistent with previous research on social exclusion and affective responses [31, 33, 53], social exclusion, relative to inclusion, produced a significant increase in state anxiety. CV reactivity did not differ between the two conditions, however.…”

“…Some experimental research shows that social exclusion can affect both immediate physiological activity as well as physiological responses to a subsequent stressor, but findings are mixed [20–24]. First, with regards to the effect of social exclusion on immediate physiological responses, most studies report that exclusion produces increases in neuroendocrine or CV responses only among a subset of participants [25–28], and others report null findings [29, 30] or opposite findings [31]. Thus, social exclusion itself does not appear to have a uniform response on immediate physiological activity.…”

Emotional intelligence and motivation in athletes of different modalities

“…The kind of instrument used to assess emotional intelligence in research participants can influence data, as men are able to recognise and manage emotions more effectively, while women use emotions more efficiently. Results can be explained in terms of women being more emotional, tending to focus on and pay attention to their feelings and emotions, considered as an adaptive style responding to educational standards socially and culturally acquired, thus being more effective in controlling their feelings and emotions, while men are less accurate when recognising and managing these emotions (Helpman, Penso, Zagoory-Sharon, Feldman & Gilboa-Schechtman, 2017). These data indicate the non-existence of differences between genders, which seems to show that differences between sexes are currently being eliminated, perhaps being sport an egalitarian element (Alsarve, 2017).…”

Racial exclusion causes acute cortisol release among emerging-adult African Americans: The role of reduced perceived control

“…For example, collecting two cortisol measurements prevents observations of rate of recovery after exposure to the stressor and the length of time that cortisol levels remained elevated is unknown. Further investigation using area-under-the-curve methods to capture sustained reactivity or delayed recovery period following the discriminatory experience would provide insight into the potential long-term consequences of discrimination on hypo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis function and recovery (see Helpman, Penso, Zagoory-Sharon, Feldman, & Gilboa-Schechtman, 2017;Park, Flores, Aschbacher, & Mendes, 2018). Blunted cortisol responses are evident among individuals who have faced longitudinal trauma (e.g., war survivors; Miller, Chen, & Zhou, 2007).…”