Event Title

Piloting an E-Trier: Comparing the Effects of Face-to-Face Versus Online Elicited Social Stress on Emotion Identification

Location

Parker-Reed, SSWAC

Start Date

30-4-2015 2:00 PM

End Date

30-4-2015 3:55 PM

Project Type

Poster

Description

Online communications have become a ubiquitous way of socializing for many individuals, changing the way in which they may experience social stress. As of now, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), proven to elicit social stress, has only been conducted in face-to-face and virtual reality environments. Additionally, it is unknown whether stress experienced face-to-face versus online differentially effects the interpretation of others emotions. The current research piloted the effectiveness of an online text-based version of the TSST, the e-Trier. Participants were randomly assigned to a control (low stress) condition, original TSST, or e-Trier, which took place over Google Chat instant messaging. Similar to the original TSST, participants in the e-Trier condition completed mental arithmetic and then wrote about their qualifications for their dream job while receiving regular prompts but no positive feedback. Following the social stress elicitation, participants were asked to identify the emotion expressed by ambiguous, digitally morphed angry-fearful faces. Data collection is ongoing and will be completed by November 2014 (N=60). Preliminary analyses support the effectiveness of the Trier (F(2,11) = 4.24, p = 0.04). The traditional TSST and e-Trier are hypothesized to elicit more stress than the control condition. Participants experiencing greater stress are expected to exhibit a bias toward identifying anger in ambiguous expressions. If effective, the e-Trier will help to elucidate how social stress manifests in online communication, including cyber-bullying.

Faculty Sponsor

Erin Sheets

Sponsoring Department

Colby College. Psychology Dept.

CLAS Field of Study

Social Sciences

Event Website

http://www.colby.edu/clas

ID

1247

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Apr 30th, 2:00 PM Apr 30th, 3:55 PM

Piloting an E-Trier: Comparing the Effects of Face-to-Face Versus Online Elicited Social Stress on Emotion Identification

Parker-Reed, SSWAC

Online communications have become a ubiquitous way of socializing for many individuals, changing the way in which they may experience social stress. As of now, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), proven to elicit social stress, has only been conducted in face-to-face and virtual reality environments. Additionally, it is unknown whether stress experienced face-to-face versus online differentially effects the interpretation of others emotions. The current research piloted the effectiveness of an online text-based version of the TSST, the e-Trier. Participants were randomly assigned to a control (low stress) condition, original TSST, or e-Trier, which took place over Google Chat instant messaging. Similar to the original TSST, participants in the e-Trier condition completed mental arithmetic and then wrote about their qualifications for their dream job while receiving regular prompts but no positive feedback. Following the social stress elicitation, participants were asked to identify the emotion expressed by ambiguous, digitally morphed angry-fearful faces. Data collection is ongoing and will be completed by November 2014 (N=60). Preliminary analyses support the effectiveness of the Trier (F(2,11) = 4.24, p = 0.04). The traditional TSST and e-Trier are hypothesized to elicit more stress than the control condition. Participants experiencing greater stress are expected to exhibit a bias toward identifying anger in ambiguous expressions. If effective, the e-Trier will help to elucidate how social stress manifests in online communication, including cyber-bullying.

https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/50