Effects of acute psychosocial stress on social-cognitive functions

Contact: Gregor Domes

Psychosocial stress is associated with a mulitude of stress-associated illnesses and leads to specific reaction types at the behavioural level. In recent years the classic "fight-or-flight"-response postulated by Cannon has been expanded by the concept of "tend-and-befriend"-behaviour, proposed by Taylor, gaining importance in the field of stress research. Following this development, the effects of acute psychosocial stress on social-cognitive correlates of the two response tendencies (e.g., social attention and emotion recognition) and the mediating role of psychobiological mechanisms should be investigated.

Related Publications

• Domes, G. & Zimmer, P. (2019). Acute stress enhances the sensitivity for facial emotions: a signal detection approach. Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, epub ahaed of print. doi:  10.1080/10253890.2019.1593366
• von Dawans, B., Ditzen, B., Trueg, A., Fischbacher, U., & Heinrichs, M. (2019). Effects of acute stress on social behavior in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 99, 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.08.031
• von Dawans, B., Spenthof, I., Zimmer, P., & Domes, G. (2020). Acute psychosocial stress modulates the detection sensitivity for facial emotions. Experimental Psychology, 67(2), 140–149. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000473
• Domes, G., & Frings, C. (2020). Stress and cognition in humans. Experimental Psychology, 67(2), 73–76. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000476