You and your happiness: A new study on stress and social status

Researchers conducted a study to see if a person's social status affects how stressed they feel, especially in females. 

They looked at two types of stress: being socially isolated and having unstable social situations and how these affect different social ranks.

They did this study with female mice. They put them in pairs and let them become friends over a few days. 

More about the experiment

In each pair, one mouse was seen as more important (with high social status), and the other was less important (with low social status). 

They watched how the mice acted, measured their stress hormones, and checked which parts of their brains got active when they were stressed.

The researchers found that the social rank of a mouse influenced how it dealt with stress. It also mattered whether the stress was from feeling lonely or from changes in their social group. 

Mice with lower social status were more affected by changes in their social group, while those with higher rank felt lonelier.

Different parts of the brain reacted in various ways to social situations, depending on the mouse's social status and the type of stress they experienced. 

This means that social rank had a unique impact on how their brains reacted to stress.

Why it might be important

Now, can we say the same for people? 

The researchers think it's possible, but more studies are needed to understand how social status and social connections affect stress in humans. 

These findings could help us better understand stress-related mental health issues like anxiety and depression, but we need more research to be sure.
 

• Related news:
• research
• depression
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• 8 October 2023

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