Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular reactivity to a public speaking task in a virtual and real-life environment

Public speaking is a well-known psychosocial stress to occur in social-evaluative situations. This study examined self-reported, autonomic and endocrine stress responses to a 5-min public speaking task. Participants were asked to present either in front of i) a real audience, or ii) a virtual audience or iii) an empty virtual lecture hall. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the influence of real or virtual social stimuli on stress reactivity. Additionally, possible sex differences in stress responses were evaluated. Sixty-six women and men (20-33 years) underwent a multidimensional assessment of stress including self-reported state anxiety, heart rate, heart rate variability and saliva cortisol secretion. Results showed comparable increases in all stress responses in both the real and the virtual public speaking group. These findings indicate that the Self Preservation Theory is not limited to physically present social entities, but may also be extended to virtual social stimuli; as such this observation is also in line with the so called Media Equation Concept. Implications of the current results for therapy and research are subsequently discussed.