Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
With a little help from my cross-group friend: reducing anxiety in intergroup contexts through cross-group friendship
Elizabeth Page-Gould1, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, Linda R Tropp
1Department of Psychology, University of California, CA 94720-5050, USA.
Abstract:
The authors induced cross-group friendship between Latinos/as and Whites to test the effects of cross-group friendship on anxiety in intergroup contexts. Cross-group friendship led to decreases in cortisol reactivity (a hormonal correlate of stress; W. R. Lovallo & T. L. Thomas, 2000) over 3 friendship meetings among participants high in race-based rejection sensitivity (R. Mendoza-Denton, G. Downey, V. J. Purdie, A. Davis, & J. Pietrzak, 2002) and participants high in implicit prejudice (A. G. Greenwald, B. A. Nosek, & M. R. Banaji, 2003). Cross-group partners' prior intergroup contact moderated the relationship between race-based rejection sensitivity and cortisol reactivity. Following the manipulation, participants kept daily diaries of their experiences in an ethnically diverse setting. Implicitly prejudiced participants initiated more intergroup interactions during the diary period after making a cross-group friend. Participants who had made a cross-group friend reported lower anxious mood during the diary period, which compensated for greater anxious mood among participants high in race-based rejection sensitivity. These findings provide experimental evidence that cross-group friendship is beneficial for people who are likely to experience anxiety in intergroup contexts.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
In- and Out-Groups
Robbers Cave
Impact of Groups on Groups
Group Therapy
Self-Help Support Groups
Accessibility and Cost-Effectiveness
One of the primary strengths of self-help...
Friendships and Close Friendships

