RELATION OF SOCIAL ATTAINMENT TO PSYCHOLOGICAL AND ADRENOCORTICAL REACTIONS TO STRESS

Abstract

THIS PAPER reports the findings of a pilot study in a research project investigating the relations of social behavior and adjustment to (a) the pituitaryadrenal responses and (b) the psychological (overt behavioral) responses to experimental stress situations. The research project is motivated by the fact that both disturbed adjustment patterns and altered pituitary-adrenal function are implicated in such syndromes as schizophrenia,¹ asthma,² and hypertension.³ In the pilot study reported here we attempted to determine whether there are significant relations between measures of social attainment and the pituitary-adrenal and psychological responses to the "stress" of the Target Ball Frustration test. METHOD AND MATERIAL Measures of Social Attainment. —The subjects were divided into an upper and a lower group with respect to education, occupation, formal group association, and over-all social attainment, as follows: