How anxiety can kill your social status

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/epfd-hac112715.php

Public Release: 30-Nov-2015
How anxiety can kill your social status
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Neuroscientists at EPFL identify a brain region that links anxious temperament to low social status. The researchers were able to tweak social hierarchy in animals using a regular vitamin.

There are important differences in how individuals approach life. While some people are relaxed and calm, others often see situations as threatening, making them worried and tense. This kind of 'trait' anxiety has significant consequences on a person's social life, undermining their confidence to compete for social standing. In our competitive world, high-anxious individuals have a disadvantage and can feel overlooked and rejected; as a result this can lead to what psychologists call 'social subordination'. Publishing in PNAS, neuroscientists at EPFL have pinpointed an area of the brain related to motivation and depression that could link trait anxiety to social subordination.

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