Self-image and self-focused attention in a social interaction situation: what is relevant for social anxiety?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yasemin Meral ◽  
Noortje Vriends
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Real Time ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Self Image ◽  
A Current

Abstract Background: According to Clark and Wells’ cognitive model (Clark and Wells, 1995), social anxiety is maintained by both a negative self-image and self-focused attention (SFA). Although these maintaining factors were investigated extensively in previous studies, the direction of this relationship remains unclear, and so far, few studies have investigated self-image and SFA together within a current social interaction situation. Aims: The aim of this experiment is to investigate the influence of a negative versus positive self-image on social anxiety and on SFA during a social interaction. Method: High (n = 27) and low (n = 36) socially anxious participants, holding a manipulated negative versus positive self-image in mind, had a real-time video conversation with a confederate. Social anxiety, SFA and state anxiety before and during the conversation were measured with questionnaires. Results: An interaction between negative self-image and social anxiety showed that high socially anxious individuals with a negative self-image in mind were more anxious than those with a positive self-image in mind during the conversation. They were also more anxious compared with low socially anxious individuals. Furthermore, high socially anxious individuals reported higher SFA; however, SFA was not affected by negative or positive self-image. Conclusion: The present results confirm once again the strong influence of self-image and SFA on social anxiety, highlighting that a negative self-image has more impact on socially anxious individuals. Moreover, the present results suggest that SFA is not necessarily affected by a negative self-image, indicating that therapies should focus on both.

Can Clark and Wells' (1995) Cognitive Model of Social Phobia be Applied to Young People?

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate J. Hodson ◽  
Freda V. McManus ◽  
David M. Clark ◽  
Helen Doll
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Phobia ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Treatment Protocol ◽  
Social Cognitions ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Event Processing ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Anxiety Depression

AbstractSocial phobia is a common and disabling condition for both children and adults. In recent years Clark and Wells' (1995) cognitive model of social phobia has given rise to an effective treatment protocol for the condition in adults (e.g. Clark et al., 2003, 2006). The current study investigates the applicability of this model to younger people. One hundred and seventy-one 11–14 year-old participants completed questionnaires measuring social anxiety, depression, and the variables hypothesized to maintain social phobia in Clark and Wells' (1995) cognitive model: negative social cognitions, safety behaviours, self-focused attention, and pre- and post-event processing. High socially anxious children scored significantly higher than low socially anxious children on all of the variables in Clark and Wells' model. Negative social cognitions, self-focused attention, safety behaviours, and pre- and post-event processing were all significant predictors of social anxiety, accounting for 48% of the variance in social anxiety. Furthermore, these variables showed specificity to social anxiety, predicting significantly more variance in social anxiety than in depression. Findings suggest that although Clark and Wells' (1995) model of social phobia was developed from research on adult populations, it may be equally applicable to younger people with social phobia.

scholarly journals The Relation Between Social Anxiety and Audience Perception: Examining Clark and Wells’ (1995) Model Among Adolescents

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke W. Blöte ◽  
Anne C. Miers ◽  
David A. Heyne ◽  
David M. Clark ◽  
P. Michiel Westenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Social Event ◽  
Performance Expectations ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Negative Thoughts ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
The Relationship

Background: Clark and Wells’ cognitive model of social anxiety proposes that socially anxious individuals have negative expectations of performance prior to a social event, focus their attention predominantly on themselves and on their negative self-evaluations during an event, and use this negative self-processing to infer that other people are judging them harshly. Aims: The present study tested these propositions. Method: The study used a community sample of 161 adolescents aged 14–18 years. The participants gave a speech in front of a pre-recorded audience acting neutrally, and participants were aware that the projected audience was pre-recorded. Results: As expected, participants with higher levels of social anxiety had more negative performance expectations, higher self-focused attention, and more negative perceptions of the audience. Negative performance expectations and self-focused attention were found to mediate the relationship between social anxiety and audience perception. Conclusions: The findings support Clark and Wells’ cognitive model of social anxiety, which poses that socially anxious individuals have distorted perceptions of the responses of other people because their perceptions are coloured by their negative thoughts and feelings.

Social Anxiety, Recall of Interpersonal Information, and Social Impact on Others

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra A. Hope ◽  
Karen D. Sigler ◽  
David L. Penn ◽  
Valerie Meier
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
Interpersonal Information

This study sought to replicate and extend a previous study in which social anxiety was associated with poorer recall of the details of a social interaction as well as to test various hypotheses derived from Trower and Gilbert’s (1989) psychobiological/ethological theory of social anxiety. Socially anxious and nonanxious undergraduate students participated in a heterosocial conversation with a confederate under the observation of a second subject. Consistent with the previous study, there was some evidence that social anxiety was associated with poorer recall of interaction details for women. Social anxiety and recall were unrelated for men. Men demonstrated poorer recall than women overall. The hypotheses derived from Trower and Gilbert’s theory were largely supported, suggesting socially anxious individuals view social interactions as competitive endeavors in which they are ill equipped to challenge the other person. Rather, they adopt self-effacing strategies, but still doubt their success. Finally, the judgments of nonanxious individuals about their impact on others appeared to be positively biased. Implications for cognitive theories of social anxiety are discussed.

SOCIAL ANXIETY, SELF-FOCUSED ATTENTION, AND THE DISCRIMINATION OF NEGATIVE, NEUTRAL AND POSITIVE AUDIENCE MEMBERS BY THEIR NON-VERBAL BEHAVIOURS

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Perowne ◽  
Warren Mansell
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Social Threat ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Anxiety Group ◽  
Threat Cues ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Recent research indicates the apparent paradox that social anxiety may be associated with both self-focused attention and selective attention to external social threat cues. A naturalistic paradigm was designed to explore both processes. High and low socially anxious individuals were asked to make a speech to a monitor displaying six people whom they believed to be watching them live. Two audience members exhibited only positive behaviours, two only neutral ones and two only negative behaviours. In contrast to the low social anxiety group who selectively discriminated positive audience members, the high social anxiety group selectively discriminated the negative individuals, yet they were no more accurate at discriminating the negative behaviours the audience members had performed and they reported more self-focused attention than the low social anxiety group. The effects remained while covarying for differences in dysphoria. The results indicate that socially anxious individuals base their judgements of being disapproved by others on limited processing of their social environment.

scholarly journals Self-Focused Attention and Post-Event Processing: Relevance to Social Performance Anxiety and Social Interaction Anxiety

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob B. Holzman ◽  
David P. Valentiner ◽  
Kathleen S. McCraw
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Performance Anxiety ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Event Processing ◽  
Social Interaction Anxiety ◽  
High Standards ◽  
Interaction Anxiety

This study examined the roles of self-focused attention and post-event processing in social performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety. College students (N = 101) completed measures of social performance anxiety, social interaction anxiety, self-focused attention, post-event processing, and beliefs related to social anxiety. Interoceptive self-focused attention and post-event processing predicted social performance anxiety after controlling for social interaction anxiety. The associations with social interaction anxiety were not significant after controlling for social performance anxiety. Associations of behavioral self-focused attention with social performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety were not significant after controlling for interoceptive self-focused attention. No evidence of an interaction between self-focused attention and post-event processing in the prediction of social anxiety was found. This study found no evidence that the associations of interoceptive self-focused attention and post-event processing with social performance anxiety were statistically mediated by high standards, conditional beliefs about self, and unconditional beliefs about self. These results and their theoretical implications are discussed.

The Role of Social Anxiety in Social Interaction Difficulties

1977 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
pp. 610-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roisin Hall ◽  
David Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Problem Behaviour ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Common Complaint ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Social anxiety was found to be the most common complaint in a sample of psychiatric patients reporting social interaction difficulties. High social anxiety was shown to be associated with impairments to social behaviour in socially anxious psychiatric patients and non-psychiatric volunteers. A comparison was made of systematic desensitization and a form of social skills training in the treatment of social interaction difficulties associated with high social anxiety. This indicated that while both therapies were effective in the reduction of social anxiety, the training programme was the more effective in reducing problem behaviour, but desensitization appeared to lead to a wider generalization of improvement as indicated by increases in social participation.

The impact of metacognitive beliefs and anticipatory processing on state anxiety in high socially anxious individuals in a speech task

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Styliani Gkika ◽  
Adrian Wells
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
State Anxiety ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Negative Beliefs ◽  
Anticipatory Processing ◽  
Metacognitive Beliefs ◽  
Perseverative Thinking ◽  
The Impact

The metacognitive model (Wells & Matthews, 1994) proposes that metacognitions (e.g., positive or negative beliefs about worry and thoughts) are involved in emotional disorders alongside perseverative thinking, such as worry. In social anxiety, worry about forthcoming social situations, termed anticipatory processing (AP), is considered an important maintaining factor (Clark & Wells, 1995), but a role of metacognition is less clear. This study investigated AP and metacognition in 80 high socially anxious individuals asked to engage in either AP or a filler task before delivering a speech. AP and higher uncontrollability/danger metacognitive beliefs were associated with greater state anxiety overall. Individuals with higher positive beliefs about worry experienced less of an increase in anxiety before the speech, but their anxiety persisted until after the speech, compared to individuals with lower beliefs. The results support an effect of metacognitions and are discussed in terms of the social anxiety model and its implications.

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.

SOCIAL ANXIETY AND SELECTIVE MEMORY FOR AFFECTIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SELF

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katy O'Banion ◽  
Hal Arkowitz
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Negative Information ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Male Confederate ◽  
Affective Information

High and low socially anxious women were given identical feedback about their personality traits after a brief social interaction with a male confederate. The male confederate was trained to respond positively (success) to half of the subjects in each group during the interaction and negatively (failure) to the other half. Results of a subsequent recognition memory test for the feedback supported one of the main hypotheses and indicated that high socially anxious subjects had more accurate memory for negative information about themselves than did low socially anxious subjects. Success and failure experiences had no effects on memory. The possible contribution of such selective memory to the mediation and maintenance of social anxiety is discussed.

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