Physiological Effects of Helping Others

最近的证据表明，帮助他人预示着帮助者的身体和心理健康的改善。拟议中的研究调查在何种程度上帮助隔离的帮助者对压力后遇到的帮助插曲。 这项研究，从动物模型产生的动机和压力调节，通过探索帮助和压力减轻实验与人类参与者之间的关系，开辟了新的天地。特别是，这项研究探讨了帮助他人是否有助于从心血管压力中恢复，以及可能介导或缓和帮助和压力恢复之间联系的情绪和激素相关性。 本文提出了七项研究，以解决实验研究中的差距差距，帮助他人的影响，帮助者的压力反应。 这项研究涉及操纵帮助（和应该影响帮助的因素）在人类成年人，并检查这些操纵的生理（心血管和神经内分泌）的前因和后果。具体来说，这项研究将测试的假设，帮助他人促进心血管压力恢复的帮助者。此外，拟议的工作将试图澄清荷尔蒙和情感机制，通过帮助可能会影响这种恢复。

Recent evidence indicates that helping others predicts improvements in the helper's physical and psychological well-being. The proposed studies investigate the extent to which helping insulates the helper against stressors encountered after the helping episode. This research, generated from animal models of caregiving motivation and stress regulation, breaks new ground by exploring the relationship between helping and stress reduction experimentally with human participants. In particular, this research examines whether helping another facilitates recovery from cardiovascular stress as well as the emotional and hormonal correlates that may mediate or moderate links between helping and stress recovery. Seven studies are proposed to address the gap in research on experimental investigations of effects of helping others on the helper's stress response. This research involves manipulating helping (and factors that should affect helping) in human adults, and examining the physiological (cardiovascular and neuroendocrine) antecedents and consequences of these manipulations. Specifically, this research will test the hypothesis that helping others facilitates cardiovascular stress recovery in the helper. In addition, the proposed work will attempt to clarify hormonal and emotional mechanisms through which helping might influence such recovery.