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

Abstract

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.

Does Worrying Mean Caring Too Much? Interpersonal Prototypicality of Dimensional Worry Controlling for Social Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms

“…Social anxiety is theorized to facilitate submissive behavior to reduce the risk of rejection by dominant others (Trower & Gilbert, 1989;Weisman, Aderka, Marom, Hermesh, & Gilboa-Schechtman, 2011). Avoiding eye contact to prevent criticism (Voncken, Alden, & Bögels, 2006), viewing oneself as below others in rank (Hope, Sigler, Penn, & Meier, 1998), and submissive behavior (Russell et al, 2011) each correlate with social anxiety. Whereas generic anxiety was interpersonally nonspecific in SSM analyses , social anxiety may have prototypically submissive features.…”

Social anxiety is related to dominance but not to affiliation as perceived by self and others: A real-life investigation into the psychobiological perspective on social anxiety

“…That is, according to Trower and Gilbert (1989), socially anxious individuals overuse an 'agonic mode' in which the social world is perceived as hierarchical and conflictual, and underuse a 'hedonic' mode which includes affective schema's of communion, safety, agreeableness and warmth (e.g., Aderka, Weisman, Shahar, & Gilboa-Schechtman, 2009;Alden, Wiggins, & Pincus, 1990;Gilboa-Schechtman et al, 2014;Hope, Sigler, Penn, & Meier, 1998;Leary, 1957;Wiggins, 1979).…”

Social phobia and perceived friendship quality

“…It is less clear how social phobia impacts specific types of relationships. Relevant studies in adults have focused primarily on strangers (e.g., Creed & Funder, 1998;Hope, Sigler, Penn, & Meier, 1998;Kashdan & Wenzel, 2005;Meleshko & Alden, 1993) and romantic partners (e.g., Davila & Beck, 2002;Wenzel, 2002), with little data addressing the friendships of adults with problematic social anxiety. Treatment is largely consistent with the focus of available research, with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatments for social phobia making no special reference to friendships (e.g., Clark et al, 2006;Heimberg & Becker, 2002).…”