Social anxiety and interpersonal perception: a social relations model analysis

Cognitive models of social phobia posit that an individual's negative beliefs about the way he or she is perceived by others (metaperceptions) are a core feature of the disorder. The social relations model () was used to analyze interpersonal perception data collected following unstructured social interactions in 62 socially anxious (SA) and 62 not socially anxious (NSA) individuals. Using this model, the interpersonal perceptions were analyzed to evaluate whether pathological levels of social anxiety are associated with self-perceptions, metaperceptions, and perceptions from others. SA participants saw themselves negatively and believed others saw them negatively. Although seen as more nervous by others, SA participants were not seen as less likeable. A mediational model demonstrated that the negative metaperceptions of SA individuals were more a function of their own self-perceptions than the negative perceptions of others. These findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. Implications for theory and treatment of social phobia are discussed.     

Memory distortions and anxiety in alcoholism: a directed-forgetting investigation

Alcohol-dependent individuals and healthy social drinkers differ in their physiological, cognitive, and subjective reactivity to alcohol-related stimuli, the mnesic accessibility of alcohol-related concepts, inhibition abilities, or mnesic performance (F. Ryan, 2002; F. Stetter, K. Ackerman, A. Bizer, E. R. Straube, & D. Mann, 1995). The author investigated (a) cognitive inhibition abilities of alcohol-dependent individuals, particularly for alcohol-related words, and (b) the relationship between anxiety and cognitive activation of alcohol-related concepts in alcohol-dependent individuals by using the directed-forgetting paradigm item-by-item and list procedures. The author used a 2 (Alcohol Consumption: alcohol-dependent individuals vs. social drinkers) x 2 (Word Type: neutral vs. alcohol-related) design. Alcohol-dependent individuals had significantly more difficulty than did social drinkers in voluntarily inhibiting alcohol-related verbal stimuli. This effect seems to be general and nonspecific in alcoholism. In alcohol-dependent individuals, a high level of state anxiety was associated with significant difficulties in inhibiting alcohol-related verbal stimuli. Results suggest that anxiety is a key feature in alcoholism, facilitating the activation of alcohol-related concepts in semantic memory.     

Social anxiety and anger regulation

Based on the assumption that social anxiety is associated with less assertive behaviour and that effective anger regulation is influenced by social anxiety, two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between social anxiety and anger regulation. In Study 1, questionnaires measuring social anxiety, assertiveness, and six habitual anger‐related responses were administered to 115 adults. Social anxiety had an independent effect on rumination and submission, whereas assertiveness was independently related to the use of humour and feedback. In Study 2 (N = 136 adults) self‐ and observer ratings of anger‐related behaviour were obtained after anger was experimentally induced. Social anxiety was related to self‐ratings of submission and rumination. However, independent observer ratings based on videotapes revealed no significant influence of social anxiety on anger‐related behaviour. Taken together, the results provide evidence that social anxiety is associated with the self‐perception of less assertive behaviour and the tendency to evaluate one's behaviour more negatively. These results are consistent with prior studies showing that socially anxious persons tend to underestimate their social performance relative to the ratings of independent observers. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward a model for spirituality and alcoholism

Spirituality is a significant factor in recovery from alcoholism, whatever definition of this condition one may use. One aspect of alcohol abuse is its apparent relationship to the balance between brain hemispheres. Excessive use of alcohol anesthetizes the object-based, language-oriented functions of the left hemisphere, associated with an action mode of consciousness. This allows greater engagement of the right-hemisphere receptive mode, which is also associated with religious experience. A model of spirituality based on achieving a balance between hemisphere functions and modes of consciousness could provide a non-chemical alternative to excessive use of alcohol.     

Social anxiety in body dysmorphic disorder

Although clinical impressions suggest that patients with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) experience distress in social situations, social anxiety in BDD has received little investigation. This study examined social anxiety in 81 patients with BDD and change in social anxiety with pharmacotherapy. Subjects completed the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS) and were assessed with measures of BDD symptomatology. Participants in a placebo-controlled fluoxetine trial completed measures at baseline and endpoint. The mean SADS score was 1.3 SD units higher than nonclinical sample means but consistent with other clinical sample means. Social anxiety was significantly correlated with BDD severity. Greater depressive symptoms as well as comorbid avoidant personality disorder, but not comorbid social phobia, were also associated with higher SADS scores. Social anxiety did not improve more with fluoxetine than placebo, yet it improved significantly more in fluoxetine responders than in nonresponders. Understanding social anxiety in BDD has implications for reducing rates of misdiagnosis and treatment dropout.     

Social anxiety and interpretation of ambiguous smiles

This study investigated whether social anxiety facilitates the discrimination between genuine and ambiguous smiles. Socially anxious (N=20) and nonanxious (N=20) participants categorized as “happy” or “not happy” faces with either (1) a truly happy expression (i.e., happy eyes and a smile), (2) truly nonhappy expressions (e.g., angry eyes and an angry mouth), or (3) blended expressions with a smiling mouth and nonhappy (e.g., angry, sad, etc.) eyes. Results indicated that, relative to nonanxious participants, those high in social anxiety were more likely to judge as “not happy” any blended expression with nonhappy eyes, and they were faster in judging as “not happy” the blended expressions with angry, fearful, or disgusted eyes (but not those with sad, surprised, or neutral eyes). These results suggest, respectively, that social anxiety inhibits a benign interpretation of all the ambiguous expressions with a smile, and speeds up the detection of threatening eyes in such expressions. Importantly, no differences appeared as a function of social anxiety for truly happy or nonhappy faces. This rules out a response-bias explanation, and also reveals that social anxiety does not affect sensitivity in the recognition of prototypical expressions.     

Social anxiety and receptivity to interpersonal evaluation

Reactions to interpersonal evaluation were investigated among subjects chronically low and high in social anxiety, or shyness. Both groups of subjects expressed more positive affect after receiving favorable than after receiving unfavorable evaluations, supporting a “self-esteem” prediction. However, support for a “self-consistency” viewpoint was also found. In particular, low social anxiety individuals expressed more negative affect (anger) following negative than following positive feedback, while high social anxiety individuals expressed more unpleasant affect (distress) following positive than following negative interpersonal feedback. Additionally, low social anxiety subjects were alone in derogating the accuracy of negative feedback; high social anxiety individuals were indiscriminate in rating the two types of feedback as equally accurate. The role of interpersonal evaluation in the maintenance of social anxiety was discussed briefly.     

Social support,occupational stress and anxiety

When occupational stressors, that is stress-producing environmental circumstances (SPECs) in the workplace, lead to anxiety, this anxiety is considered work-related strain. Social support is frequently recommended as a treatment of such strain, because it is expected to help in one of three ways: by directly reducing the anxiety, by interacting with SPECs to reduce the strength of their effects on anxiety, and by weakening the strength of the SPECs themselves. Future research on anxiety and social support in conjunction with work-related SPECs could shed new light on the relations among these three, variables by employing one or more of three approaches: designing investigations that allow stronger causal inference, testing hypotheses derived from theory, and examining potential cross-cultural differences in the nature of and reactions to social support.     

Social anxiety moderates memory conformity in adolescents

When two people view the same event and later try to remember it together, what one person says affects what the other person reports. A model is presented which predicts that this memory conformity effect will be moderated, in different ways, by two components of social anxiety. People with higher fear of negative evaluation should be more influenced by their peers than others, but those with higher social anxiety related to avoiding social situations may be less influenced by their peers than others. Pairs of adolescent‐aged participants took part in a face recognition study. For each trial one person responded and then the next person responded. The effect of what the first person said on the second person's response was measured; the size of the effect was moderated by the social anxiety measures as predicted by the model. This is the first study showing the relationship between social anxiety and memory suggestibility. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social anxiety and the accuracy of predicted affect

Social anxiety is theorised to arise from sustained over-activation of a mammalian evolved system for detecting and responding to social threat with corresponding diminished opportunities for attaining the pleasure of safe attachments. Emotional forecasting data from two holidays were used to test the hypothesis that greater social anxiety would be associated with decreased expectations of positive affect (PA) and greater anticipated negative affect (NA) on a holiday marked by group celebration (St. Patrick's Day) while being associated with greater predicted PA for daters on a romantic holiday (Valentine's Day). Participants completed symptom reports, made affective forecasts and provided multiple affect reports throughout each holiday. Higher levels of social anxiety were associated with greater anticipated PA for Valentine's Day daters, but lower experienced PA on the holiday; this was not found for trait anxiety and depression. Alternatively, trait anxiety, depression and social anxiety were associated with less predicted PA for St. Patrick's Day, greater anticipated NA and diminished experienced PA/greater NA during the holiday. Results are discussed in light of perceived hope for rewarding safe emotional contact for those daters in contrast to the greater possibility for social threat associated with group celebration typical of St. Patrick's Day.     

Social phobia features across the DSM-III-R anxiety disorders

One hundred sixty subjects meeting DSM-III-R criteria for the five major anxiety disorders were compared on the extent to which they reported features characteristic of social phobia. The results indicated that many patients in the anxiety disorder categories experience some degree of social anxiety. The differences between subjects with a primary diagnosis of social phobia and subjects with other anxiety disorders appear to be chiefly quantitative on this feature. Compared to the other anxiety disorders, social phobics report fear and avoidance in response to a greater number of social situations and report greater interference in their lives due to social phobic concerns. Among the anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorder appears to be associated with the greatest degree of social anxiety, and simple phobia with the least.     

Social anxiety and post-event processing among African-American individuals

Background: Social anxiety is among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions, yet little attention has been paid to whether putative cognitive vulnerability factors related to social anxiety in predominantly White samples are related to social anxiety among historically underrepresented groups.

Design: We tested whether one such vulnerability factor, post-event processing (PEP; detailed review of social event that can increase state social anxiety) was related to social anxiety among African-American (AA; n?=?127) persons, who comprise one of the largest underrepresented racial groups in the U.S. Secondarily, we tested whether AA participants differed from non-Hispanic White participants (n?=?127) on PEP and social anxiety and whether race moderated the relation between PEP and social anxiety.

Method: Data were collected online among undergraduates.

Results: PEP was positively correlated with social anxiety among AA participants, even after controlling for depression and income, pr?=?.30, p?=?.001. AA and White participants did not differ on social anxiety or PEP, β?=??1.57, 95% CI: ?5.11, 1.96. The relation of PEP to social anxiety did not vary as a function of race, β?=?0.00, 95% CI: ?0.02, 0.02.

Conclusions: PEP may be an important cognitive vulnerability factor related to social anxiety among AA persons suffering from social anxiety.     

Social rank and affiliation in social anxiety disorder

The present study examined the interpersonal lives of individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). According to evolutionary and interpersonal theories, we construed the interpersonal world using the social rank and the affiliation psychological systems. Two studies assessed measures of social rank, affiliation, social anxiety and depression among a population of treatment-seeking individuals with SAD. In study 1, individuals with SAD without major depressive disorder (MDD; n=42) were compared to healthy controls (n=47). In study 2, individuals with SAD and MDD (n=45) were compared to individuals with other anxiety disorders and MDD (n=31). Results indicated that SAD was related to perceiving oneself as having low social rank, being inferior, and behaving submissively, as well as to low perceived intimacy and closeness among peer relations, friendships and romantic relations. SAD was distinctly associated with these perceptions above and beyond the symptomatic (study 1) and the syndrome-level (study 2) effects of depression. These findings were further supported by a path analysis of the SAD participants from both studies. Our findings highlight the need to address both social rank and affiliation issues in the assessment and treatment of SAD.     

Social anxiety disorder: psychobiological and evolutionary underpinnings

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) also know as social phobia is increasingly recognized as a highly prevalent and disabling psychiatric disorder. SAD patients demonstrate cognitive-affective distortions in relation to social situations and abnormal activation patterns in limbic structures during functional imaging. Behavioral inhibition is an endophenotype that may be useful in understanding vulnerability to SAD, and that has specific imaging and genetic correlates. From an evolutionary perspective, it has been speculated that SAD represents a false appeasement alarm. It is notable that SAD responds to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, but not to most tricyclic antidepressants; this finding is consistent with the importance of serotonin and dopamine in mediating this disorder.     

Toward a clinically-oriented model of anxiety disorders

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) model of psychopathology has generally been the accepted standard in North America for understanding and diagnosing psychological disorders for over half a century. This classification model, particularly since DSM-III, has been formulated around the goals of aiding diagnosis, enhancing communication among professionals, fostering psychopathology research and informing treatment. However, all classification systems are inherently dependent on the purpose for the classification. In this paper, an argument is made for a clinically-relevant diagnostic system of mental disorders to support a primary goal of informing treatment. Several lines of research are examined, including studies on diagnostic reliability, dimensional vs categorical nature of anxiety disorders, co-morbidity, and psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment outcome as they relate to current and proposed diagnostic models of anxiety disorders. Based on the evidence, suggestions are made for revising diagnostic models of anxiety, and key lines of future research are proposed.     

Social anxiety in stuttering: measuring negative social expectancies

Much research has suggested that those who stutter are likely to be anxious. However, to date, little research on this topic has addressed the role of expectancies of harm in anxiety, which is a central construct of anxiety in modern clinical psychology. There are good reasons to believe that the anxiety of those who stutter is related to expectancies of social harm. Therefore, in the present study, 34 stuttering and 34 control participants completed the Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) Scale and the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales-Trait (EMAS-T). The FNE data showed a significant difference between the stuttering and control participants, with a large effect size. Results suggested that, as a group, a clinical population of people who stutter has anxiety that is restricted to the social domain. For the EMAS-T, significant differences between groups were obtained for the two subtests that refer specifically to people and social interactions in which social evaluation might occur (Social Evaluation and New/Strange Situations) but not for the subtests that contained no specific reference to people and social interactions (Physical Danger and Daily Routines). These results were taken to suggest that those who stutter differ from control subjects in their expectation of negative social evaluation, and that the effect sizes are clinically significant. The findings also suggest that the FNE and the EMAS-T are appropriate psychological tests of anxiety to use with stuttering clients in clinical settings. The clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed, in terms of whether social anxiety mediates stuttering or is a simple by-product of stuttering. Possible laboratory explorations of this issue are suggested, and potential Cognitive Behavior Therapy packages for stuttering clients who might need them are discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to: (1) explain why expectancy of social threat or harm may be associated with stuttering; (2) name and describe two psychological tests that are suitable for assessment of the social threat or harm that may be associated with stuttering; and (3) explain how findings for the EMAS-T test in the present results suggest that expectancy of social threat or harm, but not other kinds of negative expectancy, are associated with stuttering.