The Relationship between Skin Conductance and Self-Reported Stress

In current stress research it is well acknowledged that acute psychological stress activates the endocrine-, physiological-, and psychological system (e.g. Campbell & Ehlert, 2012). However, although this homeostatic process between these systems is often assumed, literature regarding this relationship is inconsistent. We proposed that these inconsistencies may be due to a lack of differentiation between different types of stressors. Therefore, the present study examined whether a relationship between the physiological-, and psychological system exists and, if so, whether this relationship differs, depending on whether a social-, environmental-, or cognitive stressor is used. 55 students took part in a single session experiment where they were confronted with the Sing-a-Song-Stress Test (SSST; social stressor), a Noise Test (environmental stressor) and the Beauty Contest Game (BCG; cognitive stressor) while their skin conductance response (SCR) and self-reported stress were measured. Results indicated no overall correlation between relative increase in mean amplitude SCR and difference scores of self-reported stress. The environmental stressor showed a significant correlation between these systems but this correlation did not significantly differ from the correlations of the SSST and the BCG. Therefore, it cannot be answered if the relationship between the physiological-, and psychological system exists. However, the study provides first evidence that this relationship does not seem to vary across different types of stressors. This insight can give a direction for future research and, hereby, help to further understand the complex mechanisms in the assumed homeostatic process between systems in stress.