Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 31, 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
Retention of a standard operating procedure under the influence of social stress and refresher training in a
Annette Kluge1, Mike Silbert1, Uta S Wiemers2
1a Department of Work Organizational and Business Psychology , Ruhr University Bochum , Bochum , Germany.
Abstract:
In a simulated process control task, we investigated the effects of refresher training and acute social stress on performing a standard operating procedure (SOP) containing a production and monitoring task and knowledge recall after a retention interval of two weeks. In a 2 × 2 between-group design (Factor 1: induced social stress, Factor 2: refresher training), 76 engineering students performed an SOP at t1 in week 1 and at t2 in week 3. A MANOVA in week three (t2) indicated a main effect of the refresher training for the SOP execution containing a production and a monitoring task and an impairing effect of stress on the monitoring task. That means that after a retention interval, stress mainly affects the SOP's monitoring task. An additional correlational analysis showed that knowledge test performance is negatively associated with cortisol level and that retentivity is a strong predictor for knowledge test performance and production task performance, too. Practitioner Summary: We investigated effects of social stress and refresher training on performing a standard operating procedure (SOP) after a retention interval of two weeks. The impact of social stress reduced the monitoring task performance as part of the SOP, but not the production outcome. Without refresher training, performance is significantly worse. Abbreviation: SOP: Standard Operating Procedure; MANOVA: Multivariate Analysis of Variance; CSB: Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; TSST: Trierer Social Stress Test; P-TSST: Placebo Trierer Social Stress Test; WaTrSim: Water Treatment Simulation; HPA axis: hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis; WIT-2: Wilde Intelligenztest - 2; SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; ANOVA: Analysis of Variance.
Related Concept Videos
Factors Influencing Attraction V: Social Skills
Social Proof
Causes of Social Behavior II: Cognitive Processes
Social Loafing
Social Scripts
Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences

