An Examination of Social Support Figures as Prepared Safety Stimuli

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

It is crucial that people develop the ability to identify and respond to threats as they navigate the world. Yet, the process by which people learn about threatening cues is inexact, often producing excessive fears, disruptive fear responses, and anxiety. Based on the importance that close social ties have for survival, this research examines social support figures as stimuli that promote survival. Such 'prepared safety stimuli' promote feelings of safety and may reduce threat responses. This is in contrast to 'prepared fear stimuli' that have historically threatened human survival (e.g., snakes, spiders). Considerable research has focused on prepared fear stimuli, but little prior work has examined prepared safety stimuli. This research will develop an understanding of these unique safety signals and the beneficial role they might play in both preventing people from learning new fears and aiding people in extinguishing old ones. This research will also help to develop a deeper understanding of the role of social support figures as prepared safety stimuli. In addition, this research may illuminate avenues for improving current interventions targeted at reducing maladaptive fears and anxiety, thereby improving well-being. The proposed research will bridge the social support and fear learning literatures, employing a combination of fear conditioning, social buffering, and neuroimaging methods. In a series of studies, Dr. Naomi Eisenberger at the University of California, Los Angeles, will define prepared safety stimuli and test whether social support figures fulfill those parameters. The proposed studies will further the examination of social support figures as prepared safety stimuli by examining: 1) whether social support figures, but not other familiar or rewarding stimuli (which are not turned to for social support), serve as prepared safety stimuli, 2) whether ambivalent support figures, who are sources of both positivity (support) and negativity (stress/negative affect), can serve as prepared safety stimuli, 3) whether stimuli historically associated with the presence of social support (warmth, softness) act as prepared safety stimuli, 4) the neural regions that underlie the safety effects of social support figures, and 5) whether support figures inhibit fear learning and enhance fear extinction to other stimuli. Given the prevalence of anxiety and fear-related disorders in the United States, understanding the unique functions of prepared safety stimuli and the role they might play in preventing fear learning or extinguishing learned fears has the potential to pave the way for new interventions targeted at reducing maladaptive fear and anxiety.