1. CHANGING IMPLICIT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY TO IMPROVE ACUTE SOCIAL STRESS RESPONSES IN TEENAGERS JEREMY P. JAMIESON, UNIV. OF ROCHESTER DAVID S. YEAGER & HAE YEON LEE, UNIV. OF TEXAS

2. SOCIAL STRESS PROCESSES IN ADOLESCENCE Adolescence is marked by increased vigilance for social feedback (e.g., Harter, 1999) & stronger physiological responses social stress (den Bos et al., 2014) relative to younger children & adults Ambiguity & concerns about social status are highly prevalent in transitions to high school/college Status ambiguities promote acts of social aggression, including peer exclusion, social rejection, or rumor-mongering, to consolidate social status (Cohen & Prinstein, 2006; Faris & Felmlee, 2011; Pellegrini & Long, 2002) Understanding & attenuating maladaptive responses to social stressors in teen can produce substantial societal benefits

3. BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL (BPS) MODEL OF CHALLENGE & THREAT Provides a framework through which to understand responses to acute social stressors Motivated-performance situation Task Engagement Appraisals of Coping Resources vs. Task Demands Resources < DemandsResources > Demands ThreatChallenge SAM axis activation Vasodilation;  CO HPA axis activation  Vascular resistance;  /  CO

4. THEORETICAL INTEGRATION: BPS & IMPLICIT THEORIES Appraisals of Coping Resources vs. Task Demands Resources < DemandsResources > Demands ThreatChallenge SAM axis activation Vasodilation;  CO HPA axis activation  Vascular resistance;  /  CO Belief Systems: Implicit Theories (personality, intelligence, etc.) Implicit theories of personality: Beliefs about the malleability of socially- relevant traits Entity: Traits are fixed (“I’m not likeable” or “S/he’s a bad person”) Incremental: People can grow/change (social adversity can be “solved”)

5. METHOD: OVERVIEW & PARTICIPANTS A laboratory experiment & double-blind field study Study 1: manipulating implicit theories of personality in the lab to examine effects on appraisals & social stress responses Hypothesis: Teaching adolescents an incremental theory of personality will improve stress appraisals & promote more adaptive responses to social stressors per the BPS model Sample: 60 teenagers (14-17, M age = 15.61) Determined by an a priori power analysis 55% Female; 70% W/E-A, 15% B/A-A, 12% Asian, 3% other) $50 compensation for 1½ - 2 hours

6. METHOD: DESIGN & MEASURES Physiological measures (ICG; ECG; BP): Pre-ejection period (PEP) Total Peripheral Resistance (TPR) Stroke Volume (SV) Social stress task (modified Trier Social Stress Test, TSST): Baseline physiology Incremental theory (IT) manipulation (25-min reading/writing task) Self-relevant speech (“attributes that make teens popular”) Mental arithmetic (count backwards by 7s from 996 out loud) Recovery (rest alone after stress offset) Predictions: IT = more adaptive stress responses vs. Controls Threat =  PEP,  TPR,  /  CO during stress;  PEP at recovery Challenge =  PEP,  TPR,  CO during stress;  PEP at recovery

7. RESULTS: PRE-TASK STRESS APPRAISALS Resource : Demand ratio, t(58) = 2.57, p =.012, d =.63

8. RESULTS: PHYSIOLOGY predicted Time × Condition interaction, F(1,49) = 6.62, p =.013, d =.74

9. RESULTS: PHYSIOLOGY Condition, F(1,46) = 12.65, p =.001, d = 1.02

10. RESULTS: PHYSIOLOGY Condition, F(1,48) = 11.17, p =.002, d =.95

11. DISCUSSION Manipulating belief-level incremental theories can directly impact situation-specific stress appraisals & physiological responses Teenagers not only exhibited more adaptive physiological responses during stress, but they also performed better than controls (higher quality speeches & better mental math outcomes) The effects observed here suggest a synthesis (in some contexts) of implicit theories models & BPS models Implicit theories operate at the level of beliefs, whereas BPS models focus on situation-specific appraisal processes (e.g. Jamieson et. al 2013)

12. CHANGING IMPLICIT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY TO IMPROVE ACUTE SOCIAL STRESS RESPONSES IN TEENAGERS JEREMY P. JAMIESON, UNIV. OF ROCHESTER DAVID S. YEAGER & HAE YEON LEE, UNIV. OF TEXAS