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Social stress is stress that stems from one's relationships with others and from the social environment in general. Based on the appraisal theory of emotion, stress arises when a person evaluates a situation as personally relevant and perceives that they do not have the resources to cope or handle the specific situation. The activation of social stress does not necessarily have to occur linked to a specific event, the mere idea that the event may occur could trigger it. This means that any element that takes a subject out of their personal and intimate environment could become a stressful experience. This situation makes them socially incompetent individuals. There are three main categories of social stressors. Life events are defined as abrupt, severe life changes that require an individual to adapt quickly (ex. sexual assault, sudden injury). Chronic strains are defined as persistent events which require an individual to make adaptations over an extended period of time (ex. divorce, unemployment). Daily hassles are defined as minor events that occur, which require adaptation throughout the day (ex. bad traffic, disagreements). When stress becomes chronic, one experiences emotional, behavioral, and physiological changes that can put one under greater risk for developing a mental disorder and physical illness. Humans are social beings by nature, as they typically have a fundamental need and desire to maintain positive social relationships. Thus, they usually find maintaining positive social ties to be beneficial. Social relationships can offer nurturance, foster feelings of social inclusion, and lead to reproductive success. Anything that disrupts or threatens to disrupt their relationships with others can result in social stress. This can include low social status in society or in particular groups, giving a speech, interviewing with potential employers, caring for a child or spouse with a chronic illness, meeting new people at a party, the threat of or actual death of a loved one, divorce, and discrimination. Social stress can arise from one's micro-environment (e.g., family ties) and macro-environment (e.g., hierarchical societal structure). Social stress is typically the most frequent type of stressor that people experience in their daily lives and affects people more intensely than other types of stressors. Definitions Researchers define social stress and social stressors in various ways. Wadman, Durkin, and Conti-Ramsden (2011) defined social stress as "the feelings of discomfort or anxiety that individuals may experience in social situations, and the associated tendency to avoid potentially stressful social situations". Ilfield (1977) defined social stressors as "circumstances of daily social roles that are generally considered problematic or undesirable". Dormann and Zapf (2004) defined social stressors as "a class of characteristics, situations, episodes, or behaviors that are related to psychological or physical strain and that are somehow social in nature". Measurement Social stress is typically measured through self-report questionnaires. In the laboratory, researchers can induce social stress through various methods and protocols. Self-reports There are several questionnaires used to assess environmental and psychosocial stress. Such self-report measures include the Test of Negative Social Exchange, the Marital Adjustment Test, the Risky Families Questionnaire, the Holmes–Rahe Stress Inventory, the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress, the Daily Stress Inventory, the Job Content Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Stress and Adversity Inventory. In addition to self-report questionnaires, researchers can employ structured interview assessments. The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS) is one of the most popular instruments used in research. The purpose of this type of measure is to probe the participant to elaborate on their stressful life events, rather than answering singular questions. The UCLA Life Stress Interview (LSI), which is similar to the LEDS, includes questions about romantic partners, closest friendships, other friendships, and family relationships. Induction In rodent models, social disruption and social defeat are two common social stress paradigms. In the social disruption paradigm, an aggressive rodent is introduced into a cage housing male rodents that have already naturally established a social hierarchy. The aggressive "intruder" disrupts the social hierarchy, causing the residents social stress. In the social defeat paradigm, an aggressive "intruder" and another non-aggressive male rodent fight. In human research, the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST) is widely used to induce social stress in the laboratory. In the TSST, participants are told that they have to prepare and give a speech about why they would be a great candidate for their ideal job. The experimenter films the participant while they give the speech and informs the participant that a panel of judges will evaluate that speech. After the public speaking component, the experimenter administers a mathematics task that involves counting backwards by certain increments. If the participant makes a mistake, the experimenter prompts them to start again. The threat of negative evaluation is the social stressor. Researchers can measure the stress response by comparing pre-stress salivary cortisol levels and post-stress salivary cortisol levels. Other common stress measures used in the TSST are self-report measures like the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and physiological measures like heart rate. In a laboratory conflict discussion, couples identify several specific areas of conflict in their relationship. The couples then pinpoint a couple topics to discuss later on in the experiment (ex. finances, child-rearing). Couples are told to discuss the conflict(s) for 10 minutes while being videotaped. Brouwer and Hogervorst (2014) designed the Sing-a-Song Stress Test (SSST) to induce stress in the laboratory setting. After viewing neutral images with subsequent 1-minute rest periods, the participant is instructed to sing a song after the next 1-minute rest period is complete. Researchers found that skin conductance and heart rate are significantly higher during the post-song message interval than the previous 1-minute intervals. The stress levels are comparable to that induced in the Trier Social Stress Task. In 2020, a systematic review about the TSST provided several guidelines to standardize the use of the TSST across studies Statistical indicators of stress in large groups A statistical indicator of stress, simultaneous increase of variance and correlations, was proposed for diagnosis of stress and successfully used in physiology and finance. Its applicability for early diagnosis of social stress in large groups was demonstrated by the analysis of crises. It was examined in the prolonged stress period preceding the 2014 Ukrain.... Discover the Stephen B Manuck Richard Jennings Bruce popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Stephen B Manuck Richard Jennings Bruce books.