Social anxiety

What is a clinical developmental perspective to social anxiety

• Examines social anxiety disorder as a progression from genetic predisposition to disorder manifestation

• Considers developmental milestones and environmental interactions

What is a cognitive trait perspective to social anxiety

• Views shyness as a stable personality characteristic that influences perception, processing and response to social stimuli

• Impacts social functioning

What is a social process perspective to social anxiety

• Considers embarrassment as a reaction to social norms violation

• Involves self evaluation and others’ perceptions, impacting social interactions and self concept

• Develops a new perspective, based around media

Criteria for social anxiety disorder

• Individuals exhibit significant and persistent fear of social situations where embarrassment or rejection may occur

• Experience immediate, anxiety driven physical reactions to feared social situations

• Recognize their fears as exaggerated but feel powerless to overcome them

• Avoid dreaded social situations at any cost

What is avoidant personality disorder (McNeil, 2001)

• Considered the most severe form of social anxiety

• Marked by a detached personality pattern where the individual avoids people due to fears of humiliation or rejection

• Behaviours include reluctance to engage with others, lack of close friendships, exaggeration of potential difficulties and avoidance of activities requiring interpersonal contact

• More common in males often starting in early childhood

Cognitive symptoms in social anxiety disorder

• Prone to negative self thoughts eg ‘do i look okay’, ‘am i dressed appropriately’

• Focus on fear of rejection or disapproval

• Unchecked thoughts may lead to low self esteem and deep feelings of inferiority

Physical symptoms in social anxiety disorder

• Panic attacks

• Shortness of breath

• Tightness or pain in the chest

• Racing heart

• Nausea, dizziness, sweating and shaking

Difference between panic disorders from social anxiety disorder

• Panic disorder, fear centres around the panic attack itself

• Social anxiety, fear centres on others witnessing the attack and resulting in humiliation

Behavioral avoidance in social anxiety disorder

• Avoiding situations perceived as harmful eg parties, relationships or high potential jobs

• Limiting life choices to remain in comfort zones

• Engaging in subtle avoidance behaviours eg drinking alcohol before social events

• Setting limits for social interactions eg staying briefly at an event

Biological and developmental influences in social anxiety (Kagan, 1994, 1998)

• Explored inhibited and unhibited temperaments in children

• Found that 10-15% of babies identified as irritable often develop shyness and fearfulness

• These children remain cautions, quiet and introverted throughout development

• Higher rates of social anxiety disorder in adolescence

Biological indicators (Kagan, 1994, 1998)

• Higher than normal resting heart rate, increases under mild stress

• Behavioral restraint in new situations, including avoidance and retreat

Genetic indicators (Kagan, 1994, 1998)

• High prevalence of social anxiety or related disorders in parents

• Suggests a genetically driven trait of social withdrawal linked to inhibited temperament

What is shyness (Lynn Henderson, Philip Zimbardo)

• Shyness institute USA

• Defines shyness as discomfort or inhibition in interpersonal situations eg interaction with other people

• This discomfort impacts interpersonal or professional goals

• Shyness is a form of excessive self focus and a preoccupation with one’s owns thoughts, feelings and physical reactions

What is trait shyness (Buss, 1980)

• A long lasting or permanent tendency to experience heightened self consciousness in various frequent situations

• Experiencing shyness in response to much lower levels of social threat than is usually needed to experience state shyness (Buss, 1980)

• Shyness diminishes when the circumstances responsible for the shyness cease or change

• However trait shyness is considered a personality trait that remains stable over time and across situations

State vs trait shyness

• State shyness: diminishes when triggering circumstances change

• Trait shyness: A stable personality, enduring over time and across situations

Biological and developmental roots of trait shyness

• Genetic predisposition: inhibition and excessive anxiety

• Developmental factors: issues in forming a personal identity during adolescence, particularly when there is a disruption

What is fearful shyness

• Develops early in life, linked to behavioural inhibition

• May or may not influence future behaviour

What is self conscious shyness

• Emerges later, as children develop a ‘theory of mind’

• Involves self evaluation and concern about negative impressions

• Develops from an ability to reflect on behaviour from others’ perspective

Shyness and personality (Zimbardo, 1977)

• Investigated shyness alongside the personality traits of extraversion and introversion

• Zimbardo found that shyness and introversion are clearly distinguishable from each other

• Introverts do not fear social situations, they prefer their own company and solitary activities.

• However shy individuals would prefer to be with others but are restrained from doing so because of their shy natures

Shyness and personality (Zimbardo and Henderson)

• Some extroverts are considered shy, shy extroverts may privately be shy and publicly outgoing

• Argued that shy extroverts may be shy but adopt extrovert social skills to carry them through situations that are structured or familiar to the

• The shy extrovert can play a role, but will falter when in 1-1 situations or situations where their role is less certain

How is embarrassment a social perspective

• Embarrassment is a self conscious feeling experienced after realising one has done something perceived as stupid or ridiculous

• Can trigger minor physiological reactions eg blushing to major reactions eg severe embarrassment

• It is traditionally viewed as part of social anxiety or shyness, now recognized as an independent construct with specific causes and consequences

• Embarrassment is deeply rooted in social processes

What is the dramaturgic model

• The idea that embarrassment arises from the inability to maintain a public perfomance

• Eg:

• Trigger is a poor public perfomance leading to flustered uncertainty

• Leads to agitation and aversive arousal when the individual realises they cannot continue gracefully

• Embarrassment stems from the failure to ‘act a part’ in a social context

What is the social evaluation model

• The idea that embarrassment is driven by concern for how others perceive us

• The fear of failing to impress others leads to embarrassment

• Assumes that the social evaluation by others causes embarrassment

What is situational self esteem

• The idea that embarrassment arises from a temporary loss of self esteem due to public failure

• Negative evaluations by others act as a trigger

• The individual uses the situation to judge their own perfomance, leading to embarrassment

• Suggests embarrassment is caused by how individuals evaluate their own perfomance, not solely by others opinions

• If they did not care how others perceived them, they wouldn’t be embarrassed

What is the personal standards model (Babcock, 1988)

• The idea that embarrassment occurs when individuals fail to meet their own behavioural standards

• The individuals perception of failing their own personal standards is the key trigger

• Embarrassment may occur even when alone, if behaviour falls short of self imposed expectations

• Suggests that the situation itself is not embarrassing, but the failure to meet personal standards is