Abstract
Social self preservation theory asserts that situations high in evaluative threat elicit increases in cortisol, a hormone released by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Most tests of the theory have examined the effects of performance evaluative threat on the cortisol response. This experiment examined the effects of physique evaluative threat on the cortisol response. Participants (n= 40; M age = 22.2 years) provided three salivary cortisol samples during a pre-manipulation rest period. They then put on a revealing exercise outfit and were randomly allocated to an evaluative threat (experimental) or non-evaluative (control) condition before providing a fourth cortisol sample. As hypothesized, the experimental condition had higher baseline-adjusted, post-manipulation cortisol levels than controls, F (1, 33) = 5.46, p = .026, d = .81. Self-reported evaluative threat was unrelated to salivary cortisol (B = -.01, p = .92). These results suggest that exercise and other situations that elicit physique evaluative threat can activate the cortisol response. Clearly, the consequences of physique evaluative threat extend beyond the psychological.Acknowledgments: Research supported by a SSHRC RDI grant.