Social buffering of the stress response: Diversity, mechanisms, and functions

Hennessy, Michael B.; Kaiser, Sylvia; Sachser, Norbert

doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2009.06.001

Cited by 398 publications

(383 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…Male macaques cooperate frequently with bonded male partners in agonistic coalitions (35,37,71,72). Thus, as in humans and other mammals, individuals with strong social bonds may benefit from greater social support from other group members (4,6,7,59). Conversely, individuals that form only weak social relationships may react to stressors more strongly, for example via impairing the regulatory function of the HPA axis (6,7,59).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One well-studied mediating mechanism, conceptualized in the social buffering hypothesis, is that the presence of a close social partner attenuates the reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis (apart from other positive effects on physiological responses) and thus buffers against the potentially adverse effects of physiological stress (4,6,7). Evidence for the social buffering hypothesis rests primarily on experimental studies exposing subjects to stressful situations when a close social partner is present or absent (6)(7)(8). In that sense, previous studies on the social buffering effect captured an interaction effect of social bonding and a stressor, usually via exposure to a novel environment or, in humans, psychological stress on the stress response (4).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The individual functioning as a social buffer against stress is usually a pair-bonded partner [in humans and nonhuman animals (6,(8)(9)(10)(11)] or mother [in infant nonhuman animals (11-13)]. The "tend-and-befriend" stress-coping-mechanism (i.e., turning to close affiliates and kin), when under stress, has been linked to the attachment-caregiving system partly regulated by the oxytocinergic system (14)(15)(16).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, to date social buffering effects on acute HPA responses in adult male vertebrates have been investigated predominantly in pair-living species (or pair-housed animals) in response to the female pair partner's presence (reviewed in ref. 6). It remains to be shown whether the human sex difference in behavioral stress-coping mechanisms is exhibited by other mammals as well or whether males, like females, experience social buffering responses under stress when they have strong social ties to other same-sex individuals in their group.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques

Young

Majolo

Heistermann

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

202

168

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In humans and obligatory social animals, individuals with weak social ties experience negative health and fitness consequences. The social buffering hypothesis conceptualises one possible mediating mechanism: during stressful situations the presence of close social partners buffers against the adverse effects of increased physiological stress levels. We tested this hypothesis using data on social (rate of aggression received) and environmental (low temperatures) stressors in wild male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in Morocco. These males form strong, enduring, and equitable affiliative relationships similar to human friendships. We tested the effect of the strength of a male’s top three social bonds on his faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) levels as a function of the stressors’ intensity. The attenuating effect of stronger social bonds on physiological stress increased both with increasing rates of aggression received and with decreasing minimum daily temperature. Ruling out thermoregulatory and immediate effects of social interactions on fGCM levels, our results indicate that male Barbary macaques employ a tend-and-befriend coping strategy in the face of increased environmental as well as social day-to-day stressors. This evidence of a stress-ameliorating effect of social bonding among males under natural conditions and beyond the mother-offspring, kin or pair bond broadens the generality of the social buffering hypothesis

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques

Young

Majolo

Heistermann

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

202

168

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…According to the Social buffering hypothesis (not to be confused with the Agonistic buffering hypothesis) any affiliative interaction with a closely bonded individual may decrease physiological stress response which consequently increases individual health (Strum 1984;Cohen and Wills 1985;Hennessy et al 2009). The hormonal response to the social contact (social buffering) depends on the emotional state of the interacting individuals (Kikusui et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Triadic awareness predicts partner choice in male–infant–male interactions in Barbary macaques

et al. 2016

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Social knowledge beyond one's direct relationships is a key to successful maneuvering of the social world. Individuals gather information on the quality of social relationships between their group companions, which has been termed triadic awareness. Evidence of the use of triadic awareness in natural contexts is limited mainly to conflict management. Here we investigated triadic awareness in wild Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) in the context of bridging interactions defined as male-infant-male interactions whereby a male (actor) presents an infant to another male (receiver) in order to initiate an affiliative interaction with that male. Analyses based on 1,263 hours of focal observations on ten infants of one wild social group in Morocco supported the hypothesis that males use their knowledge of the relationship between infants and other adult males when choosing a male as a partner for bridging interactions. Specifically, (i) the number of bridging interactions among initiator-infant-receiver triads was affected by the strength of the infant-receiver relationship and (ii) when two males were available as bridging partners, a male was more likely to be chosen as the receiver the stronger his social relationship with the infant in comparison to the other available male was. This demonstrates that non-human primates establish triadic awareness also of temporarily rather dynamic infant-male relationships and use it in naturally occurring affiliative context. Our results contribute to the discussion about the mechanism underlying the acquisition of triadic awareness and the benefits of its usage and lend support to hypotheses linking social complexity to the evolution of complex cognition.

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An integrative view of caviomorph social behavior

Ebensperger

Hayes

2016

Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents

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Social buffering of the stress response: Diversity, mechanisms, and functions

Cited by 398 publications

References 129 publications

Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques

Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques

Triadic awareness predicts partner choice in male–infant–male interactions in Barbary macaques

An integrative view of caviomorph social behavior

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