Effects of the Presence of a Same-Sex Friend or Stranger on Coping with Stress

To induce stress, subjects were told they would be maneuvering a tarantula spider through a decision maze. While waiting to perform this task subjects were randomly assigned to one of five experimental conditions. In four conditions subjects were paired with either a friend or a stranger, and they were instructed to either communicate or not. In the fifth condition subjects waited alone as they anticipated performing the task. Negative mood state and blood pressure measures were obtained before and after the treatment conditions. A behavioral fear measure was obtained after treatment manipulation. Higher amounts of anxiety were reported between friends who communicated than friends who did not talk. Of those who did not communicate, there was less anxiety reported in the friend than the stranger dyads. Subjects in the alone condition reported more anxiety than those who waited with someone and did not communicate, higher depression scores than those who talked to someone, and more depression and subjective fear than those subjects who waited with a friend.