Exposure to acute stress affects the retrieval of out-group related bias in healthy men
Access DataAbstract
Individuals have a tendency to show enhanced vigilance to groups of which they themselves are not a member. Stress can up-regulate hypervigilance towards threatening stimuli and was shown to promote the reinstatement of out-group related biases in a previous study conducted in women only. The current study examines how exposure to acute stress affects the retrieval of out-group related extinction biases in male participants. Results showed that men exerted a specific out-group related bias at the beginning of extinction training indexed by higher skin conductance responses (SCRs) towards out-group faces, while stress led to a return of this extinguished out-group bias. Specifically, the stress group showed higher SCRs towards out-group faces during retrieval compared to the control group and the bias index was negatively related to post-stress cardiovascular recovery. These results indicate the important interaction between stress and intergroup bias in fear conditioning, along with a potential modulation of sex.
ID 221
Authors
Dong-ni Pan, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany; Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Oliver T. Wolf, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany Christian J. Merz, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Year
2021
DOI of Publication
10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108210
Persistent Identifier to Dataset
Where was the data collected?
Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
How to Cite
Merz, C. J. (2025, December 9). Stress and outgroup related bias. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/X2AV9
Participant Information
Participant Age
Participant Sex
Experimental Group
Stress Group: - participants performed the Socially Evaluated Cold-Pressor Test (SECPT) on day 2 before retrieval and re-extinction Control Group: - participants immersed their hands in warm water on day 2 before retrieval and re-extinction