Humans may have evolved to show signs of stress to evoke support from others
University of Portsmouth
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Researchers
examined the paradox of stress behaviour, namely why, as in other primates,
humans show signs of stress -- such as scratching, nail-biting, fidgeting, and
touching their face or hair -- which could demonstrate to others that they are
in weakened state.
They
found that, as well as being able to accurately identify when someone was
stressed, people reacted more positively towards to the individuals who showed
more signs of stress.
As
part of the study, participants were videoed while taking part in a mock
presentation and interview which they had to prepare with very short notice.
The videos were presented to raters, who were asked to rate how stressed they
thought the person in the video was.
The
participants who reported feeling more stressed during the task were perceived
as being more stressed by the raters. Similarly, those showing more
self-directed behaviours during the task, such as scratching and nail-biting,
were also perceived as more stressed. The findings suggest that people can
accurately detect when others are experiencing stress from their behaviours --
something which surprisingly has yet to be shown with scientific evidence.
The
participants who were identified as being more stressed during the task, were
also perceived as more likeable by others, giving a clue as to why humans have
evolved to display stress signals.
Dr
Jamie Whitehouse, research fellow at NTU's School of Social Sciences and
research lead, said: "We wanted to find out what advantages there might be
in signalling stress to others, to help explain why stress behaviours have
evolved in humans.
"If
producing these behaviours leads to positive social interactions from others
who want to help, rather than negative social interactions from those who want
to compete with you, then these behaviours are likely to be selected in the
evolutionary process. We are a highly cooperative species compared to many
other animals, and this could be why behaviours which communicate weakness were
able to evolve."
Co-author
Professor Bridget Waller added: "If the individuals are inducing an
empathetic-like response in the raters, they may appear more likeable because
of this, or it could be that an honest signal of weakness may represent an
example of benign intent and/or a willingness to engage in a cooperative rather
than competitive interaction, something which could be a 'likable' or preferred
trait in a social partner. This fits with current understanding of
expressivity, which tends to suggest that people who are more "emotionally
expressive" are more well-liked by others and have more positive social
interactions."
Discussing
the next steps, co-author Dr Sophie Milward from the University of Portsmouth
added: "Our team is currently investigating whether young children also
show this sensitivity to stress states. By looking at childhood we can
understand how difficult it is to detect stress, as well as identifying how
exposure to adults' stress might impact young children."
The research was funded by the British Academy and European Research Council.
