Social anxiety changes the way we move—A social approach-avoidance task in a virtual reality CAVE system

Abstract

Investigating approach-avoidance behavior regarding affective stimuli is important in broadening the understanding of one of the most common psychiatric disorders, social anxiety disorder. Many studies in this field rely on approach-avoidance tasks, which mainly assess hand movements, or interpersonal distance measures, which return inconsistent results and lack ecological validity. Therefore, the present study introduces a virtual reality task, looking at avoidance parameters (movement time and speed, distance to social stimulus, gaze behavior) during whole-body movements. These complex movements represent the most ecologically valid form of approach and avoidance behavior. These are at the core of complex and natural social behavior. With this newly developed task, the present study examined whether high socially anxious individuals differ in avoidance behavior when bypassing another person, here virtual humans with neutral and angry facial expressions. Results showed that virtual bystanders displaying angry facial expressions were generally avoided by all participants. In addition, high socially anxious participants generally displayed enhanced avoidance behavior towards virtual people, but no specifically exaggerated avoidance behavior towards virtual people with a negative facial expression. The newly developed virtual reality task proved to be an ecological valid tool for research on complex approach-avoidance behavior in social situations. The first results revealed that whole body approach-avoidance behavior relative to passive bystanders is modulated by their emotional facial expressions and that social anxiety generally amplifies such avoidance.

Interpersonal Distance During Real-Time Social Interaction: Insights From Subjective Experience, Behavior, and Physiology

“…The increased arousal ratings and reduced pleasantness ratings are in line with the existing literature that show increased threat perception elicited by close IPDs within the personal space (6,7). The effect of IPD on arousal was further modulated by social anxiety suggesting that social cues and especially close distances are perceived as even more threatening for persons with high social anxiety (11,(14)(15)(16). However, this interaction between distance and social anxiety was not reflected in the physiological parameters.…”

“…This fear is typically related to social situations, like eating in public, giving a talk, or informal conversations. Highly social-anxious individuals perceive social stimuli as more threatening and this also relates to IPD, where close distances are perceived more threatening than longer distances (11,(14)(15)(16). Furthermore, in Virtual Reality paradigms, social anxiety has been related to avoidance behavior such as backward head motion, aversion of eye contact, slow approach and increased distance to virtual agents (14)(15)(16).…”

Virtual Reality Therapy in Social Anxiety Disorder

“…Kim et al [13] exposed 79 individuals with SAD and 51 healthy controls to impromptu speeches on self-related topics to a virtual audience and concluded that individuals with SAD demonstrate less eye gaze towards the audience than healthy controls. Lange and Pauli [14] explored avoidance behavior among individuals with high vs. low social anxiety (n = 50). The authors concluded that avoidance behavior when bypassing virtual humans with neutral and angry facial expressions is modulated by the emotional facial expressions of virtual bystanders and that social anxiety generally amplifies avoidance.…”

The use of virtual reality in assessment and treatment of anxiety and related disorders

“…Several studies have concluded that virtual social environments can be effectively modified for therapeutic purposes (Felnhofer et al, 2019 ; Hartanto et al, 2014 ; H. Kim et al, 2018 ; Kishimoto & Ding, 2019 ; Lange & Pauli, 2019 ). For example, Kim et al ( 2018 ) instructed 79 individuals with SAD and 51 healthy control participant to give impromptu speeches on self‐related topics to a virtual audience and reported that participants with SAD showed less eye gaze towards the audience than healthy controls.…”