The Long-Term Efficacy of "Social Buffering" in Artificial Social Agents: Contextual Affective Perception Matters.

ABSTRACT: In dynamic (social) environments, an affective state of "stress" can be adaptive and promote agent wellbeing, but maladaptive if not appropriately regulated. The presence of (and interactions with) affect-based social support has been hypothesised to provide mechanisms to regulate stress (the "social buffering" hypothesis), though the precise, underlying mechanisms are still unclear. However, the hormone oxytocin has been implicated in mediating these effects in at least two ways: by improving social appraisals and reducing the short-term release of stress hormones (i.e., cortisol), and adapting an agent's long-term stress tolerance. These effects likely facilitate an agent's long-term adaptive ability by grounding their physiological and behavioural adaptation in the (affective) social en

SUBMITTER: Khan I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9520257 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature