Salivary cortisol reactivity to social rejection in a simulated video conference: Findings from the O-Cam paradigm.

Résumé

Social rejection represents a social stressor with well-documented psychological effects, yet biological stress responses have been examined mostly with paradigms of limited ecological validity. This study investigated psychobiological reactions to social rejection using the O-Cam paradigm, a simulated video-conference designed to mirror contemporary social interactions with higher ecological validity. Eighty-four participants were randomly assigned to experience either social rejection or social inclusion during a prerecorded web-conference with two peers. Following the interaction, participants reported on fundamental need depletion and negative affect, and provided salivary cortisol samples at baseline, immediately post-interaction, and at three follow-up time points across 45 min. As expected, participants in the rejection condition showed significantly higher fundamental need depletion and stronger negative affect than those in the inclusion condition, confirming the psychological effectiveness of the O-Cam manipulation. In contrast, no overall group differences emerged in cortisol trajectories. However, exploratory moderation analyses revealed sex-specific patterns. Women exhibited higher cortisol levels immediately after rejection compared to social inclusion, potentially reflecting a modulatory effect of rejection (vs. inclusion). Men, in contrast, showed similar acute cortisol increases across both conditions in adjusted analyses and even higher levels following inclusion in unadjusted analyses, suggesting a more generalized stress response possibly related to performance-oriented appraisal. These findings provide important insights into cortisol reactivity using the O-Cam paradigm and highlight the importance of considering sex and gender when examining psychobiological processes in the context of social rejection and inclusion.