Social support as a stress buffer or stress amplifier - The moderating role of social motives
Final Report Abstract
The aim of this project was to better understand individual differences in the effectiveness of social support during psychosocial stress. While numerous studies have shown stressreducing effects of social support, other findings suggest it can also intensify stress. We investigated whether and how implicit social motives—particularly the affiliation and power motives—can explain these diverging effects. Based on theories from motivational and stress psychology, we hypothesized that individuals with a strong affiliation motive interpret social support as a signal of positive social relationships, leading to lower psychobiological stress responses (buffer effect). In contrast, individuals with a strong power motive may perceive social support as a sign of inferiority, resulting in heightened stress responses (amplifier effect). We further examined sex differences and hormonal markers (cortisol, progesterone, estradiol, testosterone) as indicators of stress and motive-specific activation. To induce psychosocial stress, we used the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Our findings partially confirmed the hypotheses. In a first paper on this study, we report that biological sex, social motives, and experimentally manipulated social support interact in predicting stress responses. For example, men with a strong power motive showed especially pronounced cortisol responses. Participants who received social support had lower estradiol levels during the recovery phase. We also found sex-specific patterns across TSST phases in physiological and subjective responses (e.g., RMSSD, progesterone, wellbeing). In a second paper, we expanded the scope by investigating whether social support could mitigate the frustration of basic psychological needs during stress exposure, based on Self-Determination Theory. As expected, the TSST’s features—social evaluation and uncontrollability—frustrated the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Social support buffered only against reduced relatedness. Physical activity had partial protective effects: physically active individuals reported lower stress, less competence frustration, and attenuated cortisol responses. Overall, our findings offer a theoretical and empirical contribution to a more nuanced understanding of social support. They demonstrate that personality traits, social motives, and gender are important moderators of psychosocial stress responses, and they provide valuable implications for the development of personalized stress intervention strategies.
Publications
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Felt social support in sport injuries—personal and contextual predictors. German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research.
Zimanyi, Zsuzsanna; Radtke, Vanessa & Schüler, Julia
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The role of "Social" in the TSST: Social support and social motives partly moderate psychobiological stress responses in addition to biological sex. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 177, 107440.
Schüler, Julia; Zimanyi, Zsuzsanna; Radtke, Vanessa; Stoffel, Martin & Ditzen, Beate
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The TSST triggers self-reported stress and biological stress and frustrates basic psychological needs: general and specific buffering effects of physical activity and social support. Stress, 28(1).
Schüler, Julia; Rindelhardt, Simona & Ditzen, Beate
