Forschungsprojekt ::

Dyadic Stress and Recovery: Investigating Personality, Behavior, and Psychophysiological Reactions in Interpersonal Stress Settings

Projektbeschreibung

Social interactions fundamentally shape humans’ psycho-physio-behavioral responses during acute stress and subsequent recovery. However, contemporary stress and recovery research has primarily focused on an individual perspective involving only a single person and relying on highly standardized protocols that neglect the complexities of social dynamics. In addition, multimodal research on interpersonal stress reactivity and recovery processes remains limited. This project addresses these gaps by introducing a novel dyadic version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Here, both dyad members are actively and alternately involved in stress induction tasks while witnessing each other’s performances and behavior without the traditional artificial committee. This is followed by a free interaction during the recovery phase. In the present project, we explore the utility of this protocol for inducing stress and subsequent recovery across psychological, physiological, and behavioral dimensions. We will test 100 dyads (N = 200) at zero acquaintance and collect psycho-physio-behavioral measures at three time points (baseline, stress induction, recovery) from both interaction partners. Results will be discussed regarding the paradigm’s potential as an ecologically valid tool for investigating naturalistic interpersonal dynamics in stress reactivity and recovery and its practical implications for dyadic stress coping.