Fig. 9.

Interpersonal stress and peripheral physiological responses. The physiological response to interpersonal stress has been investigated using a design where people were asked to “judge” another while imagining them in the judged-person’s position and rate their social feelings and “other” feelings. A) Social feelings assessed included i) submissiveness, ii) fear of losing social approval, iii) shame, iv) guilt, and v) embarrassment. B) Judges’ ratings of the other person’s feelings of submissiveness and fear of losing social approval predicted a larger increase in the judged person’s cortisol levels. C) Judges ratings of the other person’s feelings of embarrassment predicted a decrease in T-lymphocyte numbers.