Compassion of a special kind: When we see someone in a stressful situation, it can be a burden for us as well. How strong this transmission is has to do with the feeling of connectedness with the stressed person, an experimental study now shows: Even the development of a short-term sense of togetherness obviously increases the contagiousness of stress, according to measurements of the level of stress hormones.
Stress is physically and mentally unhealthy in the long run, as many studies have shown in the meantime. Those who are constantly under tension have an increased risk of developing various psychological problems such as anxiety, burnout or depression. In addition, constant stress is associated with numerous physical illnesses. Therefore, the motto is to keep the load as low as possible. It is already known that a feeling of connectedness with others can significantly reduce people’s stress level. Studies have shown, for example, that a healthy we-feeling in the workplace can have a positive effect on the mental health and thus the productivity of employees. The feeling of togetherness is even considered a “social remedy”. But psychologists have already emphasized that the feeling of togetherness can also have the opposite effect. Because it can also strengthen the transmission of negative emotions between people.
Stressful sense of togetherness?
The researchers led by Jan Häusser from the Justus Liebig University in Giessen (JLU) have now dealt with the connection between the sense of togetherness and the transfer of stress. It has already been proven that stress can in principle be contagious. But so far this has mainly been shown in close interpersonal relationships such as partnerships or mother-child relationships. The psychologists have now investigated the question of the extent to which we can be infected more quickly by the stress of other people if only basic patterns of a feeling of belonging or togetherness connect us.
As part of the experimental study, subjects were divided into small groups of four or five people each. In some of these groups, the researchers used a targeted psychological trick to create a sense of togetherness: the participants sat together at a table, were addressed as a group and those involved were asked to think about what connects them as a group or what they have in common with the other members . In the comparison groups, on the other hand, the researchers encouraged the members to develop a sense of self: They sat alone at a single table in the room, were addressed separately from one another and were asked to think about what distinguishes them as individuals and what they differ from the other study participants in the room differs.
Increased co-stress
Then a test person was drawn from each small group who was supposed to cope with stressful challenges on their own: In a simulated job interview with two strict interviewers, those affected had to convincingly explain why they were particularly well suited for a fictitious position. In the second part of the task, you should then solve demanding mental arithmetic problems. They were observed by the other participants in these stressful situations. In order to gain insights into the stress level of all test subjects in the course of the study, saliva samples were taken from them several times in order to examine them in the laboratory for the level of the stress hormone cortisol.
The evaluation results initially confirmed the basic contagiousness of stress: in all groups, observers released more cortisol even though they were not directly stressed. From this it can be concluded that they were infected with stress. The comparison of the groups showed, however: “The observing test participants released the stress hormone cortisol much more frequently if a feeling of togetherness had been created with the observed person”, reports first author Valerie Schury from JLU. The study thus shows that the stress contagion could only be intensified by creating a sense of togetherness between people who were previously completely strangers within a short period of time.
As study leader Häusser finally emphasizes, it can be assumed that the effect increases with increasing intensity of the feeling of connectedness: “It stands to reason that people become even more infected with stress when they observe people with whom they have a long-term and stronger relationship. Feeling connects, for example with friends, ”says the psychologist. Many people will certainly be able to confirm this from personal experience.
Source: Justus Liebig University Giessen, specialist article: Psychoneuroendocrinology, doi: 10.1016 / j.psyneuen.2020.104896