2017 West ContagiousAnxiety
The article investigates how subtle displays of anxiety by European American (EA) individuals during brief interracial encounters can be physiologically transmitted to African American (AA) partners. Using a dyadic design (N=123 same‑sex dyads, both same‑race (EA‑EA) and cross‑race (EA‑AA)) participants engaged in cooperative tasks while continuous sympathetic nervous system activity (pre‑ejection period, PEP) and parasympathetic activity (respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) were recorded. Anxiety was indexed via three independent channels: cortisol reactivity, observer‑rated behavioral tension, and self‑reported discomfort. The authors modeled physiological linkage as the influence of a partner’s prior‑minute PEP on the participant’s current‑minute PEP, controlling for stability. Results showed that (1) all participants exhibited baseline physiological linkage, but (2) AA participants showed significantly stronger linkage when their EA partners displayed higher anxiety (across all three anxiety measures). In contrast, EA participants’ linkage was not moderated by AA partner anxiety. (3) AA participants with higher race‑based rejection expectations also showed heightened linkage to EA partners, suggesting that pre‑existing vigilance amplifies contagion. (4) RSA analyses revealed greater vagal withdrawal (decreased RSA) for both groups in cross‑race dyads, indicating increased attentional effort. The discussion interprets these findings as evidence of a novel pathway—interpersonal physiological contagion—through which interracial anxiety can affect minority targets, with potential implications for stress accumulation and health disparities. Limitations include the absence of AA‑AA dyads, reliance on a limited set of anxiety cues, and lack of direct vigilance measurement. The authors call for future work to explore additional channels (e.g., vocal, facial, olfactory) and to directly assess attentional mechanisms.
Topics
Subtle Interracial Anxiety as a Social Signal
Theoretical framing of how well‑intentioned European Americans may exhibit non‑verbal anxiety cues that can be interpreted as bias by African American partners.
Dyadic Physiological Linkage Methodology
Design of same‑sex dyads, continuous measurement of sympathetic (PEP) and parasympathetic (RSA) activity, and the statistical stability‑influence model used to capture moment‑to‑minute physiological coupling.
Anxiety Measurement Triad: Cortisol, Behavioral Tension, Self‑Report
Operationalization of partner anxiety via cortisol reactivity, observer‑rated non‑verbal tension, and participants’ self‑reported discomfort, each treated as distinct channels.
Asymmetric Physiological Contagion: EA Anxiety Drives AA Linkage
Empirical finding that African American partners show stronger PEP linkage when European American partners display higher anxiety, while the reverse pattern is absent.
Race‑Based Rejection Expectations Amplify Contagion
Evidence that African Americans with higher pre‑interaction expectations of racial rejection exhibit greater physiological linkage to anxious European American partners.
RSA Withdrawal as a Marker of Cross‑Race Attentional Effort
Findings that both groups exhibit greater RSA decrease (vagal withdrawal) in cross‑race tasks, interpreted as heightened mental effort or vigilance.
Implications for Intergroup Stress Transmission and Health
Discussion of how physiological contagion may contribute to cumulative stress for minorities and affect broader social outcomes (e.g., voting, policy attitudes).
Limitations and Future Directions
Acknowledgment of sample constraints (no AA‑AA dyads), limited anxiety cue repertoire, and absence of direct vigilance measures; suggestions for expanding cue channels and experimental designs.