Experimental evidence that disidentification evokes blunted cardiovascular reactivity in healthy adults

Dysregulated cardiovascular reactivity in response to stress, encompassing both exaggerated and blunted responses to stress, predicts various adverse health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. While growing evidence links social identities to cardiac regulation under stress, little is known about the physiological effects of disidentification —active disengagement from a group identity. Emerging evidence suggests that disidentification strongly shapes psychological stress responses. Therefore, this study conducted the first experiment to assess whether disidentification also contributes to dysregulated cardiovascular responses. A total of 113 healthy university students completed an experimental laboratory stress protocol, while undergoing continuous hemodynamic monitoring. Participants were randomly assigned to disidentification (from their university student identity; n = 59) or control condition (n = 54), before completing the Trier Social Stress Test, designed to invoke acute social evaluative stress. Cardiovascular indices, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate, were measured continuously using a Finapres NOVA device. Results revealed significantly lower systolic blood pressure reactivity in the disidentification condition compared to controls, consistent with a blunted stress response. Diastolic blood pressure and heart rate reactivity also trended lower in the disidentification condition but were not statistically significant. These findings provide novel experimental evidence that disidentification led to a blunting of the stress response specific to systolic blood pressure reactivity, advancing understanding of how identity processes influence physiological stress regulation. While the present research focused on cardiovascular responses to acute social-evaluative stress, further research is needed to clarify the longer-term health implications of changes in cardiovascular reactivity related to disidentification.