| The fight-or-flight response, that is, either becoming combative or fleeing, is considered the predominant response pattern under stress. Nonetheless, a definition of stress that equates it with physiology might overlook other responses that fail to fit this model. The fight/flight model neglects the fact that humans have a strong tendency to affiliate, especially in threatening situations. One proposed alternative stress response is "tend-and-befriend," conceptualized as a group of affiliative response behaviors mediated physiologically.;This study examined stress responses for evidence of alternative stress responses, through cognition, physiology, and behavior. Students completed a mental arithmetic stress induction task. A manipulation of self-construal was administered. Biological sex and self-construal served as potential predictors of who would respond with a tend/befriend, as opposed to a fight/flight, response. The operationalization of stress patterns was in terms of reaction times, cardiac reactivity, facial action coding and indirect aggression, with four specific research questions.;The first question asked whether a physiological stress reaction could be linked with the cognitive constructs of fight/flight and tend/befriend. I found no evidence for such relationships. The second question concerned sex differences in stress reactivity, and sex differences were observed across the three types of dependent variables. When stressed, women reacted more slowly than men to tend/befriend related words. Men had stronger cardiovascular reactions than women. Women smiled and looked at the facilitator more often than men, whereas men displayed more anger. Women's responses might be classified as tend/befriend while men's responses might be classified as fight/flight. However, the reaction time findings were opposite from the predicted direction and are difficult to interpret. Thus, the reported sex differences are generally consistent with predictions, but fall short of offering clear support for the specific claims of the tend/befriend theory.;Question three examined stress reactions as a function of trait level self-construal. None of the cognitive, physiological, or behavioral measures were predicted by individualism and collectivism. The fourth question examined the effect of a self-construal manipulation on stress reactivity, and individualist manipulation differences were observed across the three types of dependent variables. The individualist manipulation caused faster reaction times to fight words, a reduction in cardiovascular reactivity, a reduction in anger expressions, and a less punitive assessment of the researcher. In contrast, the collectivist condition did not produce significant changes in stress reactions. The manipulation is reconsidered as a self-efficacy manipulation.;Overall, results suggest that women respond to stress in a somewhat different manner than men, and some evidence is consistent with the tend/befriend model. Evidence for a biologically mediated, alternative stress pattern, however, was lacking. Instead, results suggest that both sexes exhibit complex stress responses, variously categorized as fight, flight, tend, or befriend. |
