Theories such as social baseline theory have argued that social groups serve a regulatory functio... more Theories such as social baseline theory have argued that social groups serve a regulatory function but have not explored whether this regulatory process carries costs for the group. Allostatic load, the wear and tear on regulatory systems caused by chronic or frequent stress, is marked by diminished stress system flexibility and compromised recovery. We argue that allostatic load may develop within social groups as well and provide a model for how relationship dysfunction operates. Social allostatic load may be characterized by processes such as groups becoming locked into static patterns of interaction and may ultimately lead to up-regulation or down-regulation of a group’s set point, or the optimal range of arousal or affect around which the group tends to converge. Many studies of emotional and physiological linkage within groups have reported that highly correlated states of arousal, which may reflect failure to maintain a group-level regulatory baseline, occur in the context of...
ABSTRACT Higher social anxiety corresponded with lower self-stranger, but not self-friend, corre... more ABSTRACT Higher social anxiety corresponded with lower self-stranger, but not self-friend, correlations in threat-related BOLD activation. These results suggest that social anxiety, even at subclinical levels, may decrease one's ability to regard strangers as identified or affiliated with oneself. Social anxiety is characterized by self-focused attention during social situations, which may be exacerbated in situations involving strangers. Interestingly, research has shown that socially anxious individuals may report greater empathic concern for others. However, it is possible this is more related to increased public consciousness and self-presentational concerns than to neural self-other overlap.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2012
Relationships are an ideal context within which to explore correlations in psychophysiological an... more Relationships are an ideal context within which to explore correlations in psychophysiological and brain imaging data, but correlational analyses in functional magnetic resonance imaging are often poorly understood, and fears of non-independent correlational “voodoo” may arouse concern whenever they are used. This paper illustrates how correlations have been used to measure both within-relationship and within-subject covariance in ways that illuminate important relationship processes and linkages. We will outline historical and contemporary examples of correlational approaches that have been utilized in unique and important ways in relationship research, and discuss our own research using innovative correlational approaches to explore interpersonal empathy and identification.
Integrating ideas from Mikulincer and Shaver's (2003) process model of attachment and Nelson... more Integrating ideas from Mikulincer and Shaver's (2003) process model of attachment and Nelson and Panksepp's (1998) neurobiological theory of an integrated social emotion system, we predicted novel attachment-related learning effects. In two experiments, we tested for a unique form of conditioning based on the social regulation of emotion. Consistent with this theoretical integration, the results indicated that people develop more positive and less negative associations with faces of people who display genuine smiles if those faces have been implicitly paired with a distressing stimulus (e.g., a striking snake). These findings could have broad implications and should be of interest to researchers who study attachment, social and affective neuroscience, emotion, learning and memory, attitudes, and interpersonal relationships.
Theories such as social baseline theory have argued that social groups serve a regulatory functio... more Theories such as social baseline theory have argued that social groups serve a regulatory function but have not explored whether this regulatory process carries costs for the group. Allostatic load, the wear and tear on regulatory systems caused by chronic or frequent stress, is marked by diminished stress system flexibility and compromised recovery. We argue that allostatic load may develop within social groups as well and provide a model for how relationship dysfunction operates. Social allostatic load may be characterized by processes such as groups becoming locked into static patterns of interaction and may ultimately lead to up-regulation or down-regulation of a group’s set point, or the optimal range of arousal or affect around which the group tends to converge. Many studies of emotional and physiological linkage within groups have reported that highly correlated states of arousal, which may reflect failure to maintain a group-level regulatory baseline, occur in the context of...
ABSTRACT Higher social anxiety corresponded with lower self-stranger, but not self-friend, corre... more ABSTRACT Higher social anxiety corresponded with lower self-stranger, but not self-friend, correlations in threat-related BOLD activation. These results suggest that social anxiety, even at subclinical levels, may decrease one's ability to regard strangers as identified or affiliated with oneself. Social anxiety is characterized by self-focused attention during social situations, which may be exacerbated in situations involving strangers. Interestingly, research has shown that socially anxious individuals may report greater empathic concern for others. However, it is possible this is more related to increased public consciousness and self-presentational concerns than to neural self-other overlap.
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2012
Relationships are an ideal context within which to explore correlations in psychophysiological an... more Relationships are an ideal context within which to explore correlations in psychophysiological and brain imaging data, but correlational analyses in functional magnetic resonance imaging are often poorly understood, and fears of non-independent correlational “voodoo” may arouse concern whenever they are used. This paper illustrates how correlations have been used to measure both within-relationship and within-subject covariance in ways that illuminate important relationship processes and linkages. We will outline historical and contemporary examples of correlational approaches that have been utilized in unique and important ways in relationship research, and discuss our own research using innovative correlational approaches to explore interpersonal empathy and identification.
Integrating ideas from Mikulincer and Shaver's (2003) process model of attachment and Nelson... more Integrating ideas from Mikulincer and Shaver's (2003) process model of attachment and Nelson and Panksepp's (1998) neurobiological theory of an integrated social emotion system, we predicted novel attachment-related learning effects. In two experiments, we tested for a unique form of conditioning based on the social regulation of emotion. Consistent with this theoretical integration, the results indicated that people develop more positive and less negative associations with faces of people who display genuine smiles if those faces have been implicitly paired with a distressing stimulus (e.g., a striking snake). These findings could have broad implications and should be of interest to researchers who study attachment, social and affective neuroscience, emotion, learning and memory, attitudes, and interpersonal relationships.
Uploads
Papers