scholarly journals Not intended, still embarrassed: Social anxiety is related to increased levels of embarrassment in response to unintentional social norm violations

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 15-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam ◽  
Henk van Steenbergen ◽  
Nic J.A. van der Wee ◽  
P. Michiel Westenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
General Population ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Norm Violations ◽  
Symptom Profile ◽  
And Behavior

AbstractBackground:Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with altered social norm (SN) processing: SAD-patients rate stories on SN violations as more inappropriate and more embarrassing than healthy participants, with the most prominent effect for stories on unintentional SN violations (i.e. committing a blunder). Until now it’s unknown how levels of social anxiety (SA) are related to ratings of SN violations in the general population, in which SA-symptoms are present at a continuum. More insight in this relationship could improve our understanding of the symptom profile of SAD. Therefore, we investigated the relation between ratings of SN violations and SA-levels in the general population.Methods:Adults and adolescents (n = 87) performed the revised Social Norm Processing Task (SNPT-R) and completed self-report questionnaires on social anxiety. Repeated-measures ANCOVAs were used to investigate the effect of SA on the ratings of inappropriateness and embarrassment.Results:As hypothesized, participants with higher SA-levels rated SN violations as more inappropriate and more embarrassing. Whereas participants with low-to-intermediate SA-levels rated unintentional SN violations as less embarrassing than intentional SN violations, participants with high SA-levels (z-score SA ≥ 1.6) rated unintentional SN violations as equally embarrassing as intentional SN violations.Conclusion:These findings indicate that increased embarrassment for unintentional SN violations is an important characteristic of social anxiety. These high levels of embarrassment are likely related to the debilitating concern of socially-anxious people that their skills and behavior do not meet expectations of others, and to their fear of blundering. This concern might be an important target for future therapeutic interventions.

scholarly journals Screening Social Anxiety in Adolescents Through the Eyes of Their Carers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis-Joaquin Garcia-Lopez ◽  
Lourdes Espinosa-Fernandez ◽  
Jose-Antonio Muela-Martinez ◽  
Jose Antonio Piqueras
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Validity Data ◽  
Efficacious Treatment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Strength Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Different Cultures

Despite the availability of efficacious treatment and screening protocols, social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents is considerably under-detected and undertreated. Our main study objective was to examine a brief, valid, and reliable social anxiety measure already tested to serve as self-report child measure but administered via Internet aimed at listening to the ability of his or her parent to identify social anxiety symptomatology in his or her child. This parent version could be used as a complementary measure to avoid his or her overestimation of children of social anxiety symptomatology using traditional self-reported measures. We examined the psychometric properties of brief and valid social anxiety measure in their parent format and administered via the Internet. The sample included 179 parents/legal guardians of adolescents (67% girls) with a clinical diagnosis of SAD (mean age: 14.27; SD = 1.33). Findings revealed good factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity. Data support a single, strength-based factor on the SPAIB-P, being structure largely invariant across age and gender. The limited number of adolescents with a performance-only specifier prevented examining the utility of scale to screen for this recently established specifier. It is crucial to evaluate if these results generalize to different cultures and community samples. The findings suggest that the SPAIB-P evidences performance comparable with child-reported measure. Parents can be reliable reports of the social anxiety symptomatology of the adolescent. The SPAIB-P may be useful for identifying clinically disturbed socially anxious adolescents.

Assessing Social Anxiety: The Inventory of Interpersonal Situations (IIS)

1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rien van Dam-Baggen ◽  
Floris Kraaimaat
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Overt Behavior ◽  
Frequency Scale ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
High Internal Consistency ◽  
Interpersonal Situations

Summary: The purpose of this study was to develop a self-report questionnaire for the assessment of social anxiety in adults. The Inventory of Interpersonal Situations (IIS) consists of 35 items formulated as responses to specific social situations. The IIS is based on an interactive concept of social anxiety and provides scores for both a Discomfort and a Frequency scale. The reliability and validity of the IIS were investigated in several adult psychiatric and nonpsychiatric samples. The scales for Discomfort and Frequency showed stability over time. Cronbach's α's revealed a sufficiently high internal consistency on both scales, while the conceptual structure was shown to be rather invariant across socially anxious and nonsocially anxious groups. The IIS scales were able to discriminate between socially anxious and nonsocially anxious samples, and showed significant relationships with independent measures of social anxiety. The IIS scales demonstrated high predictive validity for overt behavior in social situations.

Eating Psychopathology in Athletes and Nonathletes: The Effect of Situational and Dispositional Interpersonal Difficulties

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-338
Author(s):  
Vaithehy Shanmugam ◽  
Sophia Jowett ◽  
Caroline Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
General Population ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Eating Psychopathology ◽  
Interpersonal Conflicts ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Interpersonal Difficulties

In the current study, we had two aims. First, we investigated the associations between eating psychopathology, situational interpersonal difficulties, and dispositional interpersonal difficulties among athletes and nonathletes. Second, we examined the mediating role of self-critical perfectionism, self-esteem, and depression in these associations. A total of 152 athletes and 147 nonathletes completed self-report instruments pertaining to relationship quality with significant others, as well as social anxiety, loneliness, self-critical perfectionism, self-esteem, depression, and eating psychopathology. Social anxiety and loneliness were found to be the only significant independent predictors of eating psychopathology among both athletes and nonathletes. However, such associations were indirectly mediated through depression for athletes and through self-critical perfectionism, self-esteem, and depression for nonathletes. The findings of this study suggest that the psychosocial mechanisms involved in the eating psychopathology of athletes are relatively similar to that of nonathletes. Thus, it can be tentatively proposed that treatments and interventions that target reducing interpersonal conflicts currently available for the general population should also be offered to athletes.

scholarly journals Social Anxiety and Empathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merle-Marie Pittelkow ◽  
Marije aan het Rot ◽  
Lea Jasmin Seidel ◽  
Nils Feyel ◽  
Annelieke Roest
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Sample Type ◽  
Socially Anxious

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the association between social anxiety and affective (AE) and cognitive empathy (CE). Methods: 1442 studies from PsycINFO, Medline, and EMBASE (inception-January 2020) were systematically reviewed. Included studies (N = 48) either predicted variance in empathy using social anxiety scores or compared empathy scores between socially anxious individuals and a control group. Results: Social anxiety and AE were statistically significantly positively associated, k = 14, r= .103 (95%CI [.003, .203]), z =2.03, p =.043. Sex (QM (2) = 18.79, p< .0001), and type of measures (QM (1 = 7.34, p =.007) moderated the association. Correlations were significant for male samples (rmale= .316, (95%CI [.200, .432])) and studies using self-report measures (rself-report = .162 (95%CI [.070, .254])). Overall, social anxiety and CE were not significantly associated, k=52, r =-.021 (95%CI [-.075, .034]), z= -0.74, p = .459. Sample type moderated the association (QM (1)= 5.03, p <.0001). For clinical samples the association was negative (rclinical= -.112, (95%CI [-.201, -.017]). Conclusion: There was evidence for a positive association between social anxiety and AE, but future studies are needed to verify the moderating roles of sex and type of measure. Besides, low CE might only hold for patients with SAD.

scholarly journals Social Anxiety and Social Behavior: A Test of Predictions From an Evolutionary Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin B. Tone ◽  
Eddy Nahmias ◽  
Roger Bakeman ◽  
Trevor Kvaran ◽  
Sarah F. Brosnan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Social Cognitions ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Submissive Behavior ◽  
Anxious Behavior ◽  
And Behavior

An influential evolutionary model proposed that social anxiety biases people to treat social interactions as competitive struggles with the primary goal of avoiding status loss. Among subordinate nonhuman primates in highly hierarchical social groups, this goal leads to adaptive submissive behavior; for humans, however, affiliative responses may be more effective. We tested three predictions about social anxiety and social cognitions, emotions, and behavior that Trower and Gilbert advanced. College students ( N = 122) whose self-reported social anxiety ranged from minimal to extremely high played the Prisoner’s Dilemma game three times. Consistent with two model-based predictions, social anxiety was positively associated with self-reported competitive goals and with nervousness during game play. Unexpectedly, however, social anxiety was associated with a tendency to engage with coplayers in an ostensibly hostile, rather than appeasing, manner. We discuss implications of these findings for updated models of socially anxious behavior.

Higher Social Anxiety Severity Predicts Better Cognitive Empathy Performance in Women but Not Men

2020 ◽  
pp. 003329412096549
Author(s):  
Samantha K. Berg ◽  
Jeffrey S. Bedwell ◽  
Robert D. Dvorak ◽  
Erin B. Tone
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Path Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Empathy ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Behavioral Measure ◽  
Affective Empathy ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
The Mind

Findings regarding relationships between social anxiety and subtypes of empathy have been mixed, and one study suggested that this may be due to moderation by biological sex. The present study examined whether accounting for general anxiety and biological sex clarifies these relationships. Undergraduates ( N = 701, 76% female) completed online self-report measures of cognitive and affective empathy, social and general anxiety severity, and a behavioral measure of cognitive empathy (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task; MIE). Path analysis examined relationships among social and general anxiety severity and affective and cognitive empathy. Model modification indices showed a significant influence of sex on the path from social anxiety severity to MIE accuracy. When the model was re-estimated with this path freed, more socially anxious women, but not men, showed greater MIE accuracy. Across both sexes, general anxiety severity related negatively to self-reported and behavioral (MIE) cognitive empathy. Affective empathy did not relate to either type of anxiety. The use of path analysis to simultaneously account for overlapping variance among measures of anxiety and empathy helps clarify earlier mixed findings on relationships between social anxiety and empathy subtypes.

scholarly journals Self-focused attention and safety behaviours maintain social anxiety in adolescents: An experimental study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0247703
Author(s):  
Eleanor Leigh ◽  
Kenny Chiu ◽  
David M. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Clinical Value ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Conversation Partner

Background Self-focused attention and safety behaviours are both associated with adolescent social anxiety. In adults, experimental studies have indicated that the processes are causally implicated in social anxiety, but this hypothesis has not yet been tested in a youth sample. Methods This experiment explored this possibility by asking high and low socially anxious adolescents (N = 57) to undertake conversations under different conditions. During one conversation they were instructed to focus on themselves and use safety behaviours, and in the other they focused externally and did not use safety behaviours. Self-report, conversation partner report and independent assessor ratings were taken. Results Self-focus and safety behaviours increased feelings and appearance of anxiety and undermined performance for all participants, but only high socially anxious participants reported habitually using self-focus and safety behaviours. Conclusions The findings provide support for the causal role of self-focus and safety behaviours in adolescent social anxiety and point to the potential clinical value of techniques reversing them to treat the disorder.

ANTICIPATORY PROCESSING IN SOCIAL ANXIETY

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanos Ph. Vassilopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Social Event ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Anticipatory Processing ◽  
Report Measure

A psychometric study was conducted with the aim of collecting basic information about anticipatory processing and its relationship to social anxiety. A self-report measure of anticipatory processing was developed and utilized in a large student sample. The results confirmed that such processing is very common before an anticipated feared social event and a significant correlation (r=0.49) between anticipatory processing scores and social anxiety was found, which remained when trait anxiety and depression were controlled. A factor analysis indicated that all items of the measure except for two loaded significantly on one factor and accounted for the 47.3% of the variance. Socially anxious individuals in the study reported that their thoughts about the event were recurrent, intrusive, interfered with their concentration and increased their state of anxiety. Also, they reported that they wished they could avoid the situation. The results are discussed in terms of the Clark and Wells cognitive model of social phobia.

Symptom Accommodation Related to Social Anxiety Symptoms in Adults: Phenomenology, Correlates, and Impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nayana Joogoolsingh ◽  
Monica S. Wu ◽  
Adam B. Lewin ◽  
Eric A. Storch
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Anxiety Sensitivity ◽  
Anxiety Symptom ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Fear Of Negative Evaluation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
General Anxiety

Background and Objectives: Socially anxious individuals often engage in various safety and avoidant behaviors to temporarily decrease distress. Similarly, friends or family members may engage in accommodating behaviors, commonly manifesting through the facilitation of avoidance, completion of tasks, or schedule modifications. Studies examining symptom accommodation in adult social anxiety are lacking, so this study seeks to better understand symptom accommodation and its consequent impairment in socially anxious adults. Design and Methods: There were 380 undergraduate students who completed a battery of self-report questionnaires through an online system. Constructs assessed include social anxiety, symptom accommodation, and impairment as well as related variables such as general anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, alcohol use, and anxiety sensitivity. Results: Symptom accommodation was positively correlated with social anxiety symptoms, functional impairment, general anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, and alcohol use. Individuals with considerable social anxiety reported significantly higher levels of symptom accommodation than individuals who reported lower levels of social anxiety. Anxiety sensitivity predicted symptom accommodation beyond the contribution of social anxiety. Symptom accommodation mediated the relationship between social anxiety and impairment. Conclusions: These data help elucidate the presentation and impact of symptom accommodation related to social anxiety. Implications for assessment, treatment, and future directions are presented.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document