The purpose of the present study was to examine Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity in social anxiety. The present study used a standardized psychosocial stress protocol (the Trier Social Stress Test; TSST; [Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.M., Hellhammer, D.H., 1993. The 'Trier Social Stress Test'-a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neur...

This article demonstrates a psychological stress protocol for use in a laboratory setting. Protocols that allow researchers to study the biological pathways of the stress response in health and disease are fundamental to the progress of research in stress and anxiety. Although numerous protocols exist for inducing stress response in the laboratory, many neglect to provide a naturalistic context...

• We examined the interplay of social identity and support in a stressful situation. • The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used to induce socio-evaluative stress. • Social identity and social support were manipulated orthogonally. • Support buffered cortisol responses only if a shared social identity was salient. • The social identity approach offers a promising framework to study stress re...