Social anxiety and the interpretation of positive social events

Alden, Lynn E.; Taylor, Charles T.; Mellings, Tanna M. J. B.; Laposa, Judith M.

doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2007.05.007

Cited by 135 publications

(132 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Reliability in the current study was adequate, = .88. Interpretation of Positive Events Scale (IPES; Alden et al, 2008). The IPES is an eight-item measure that assesses how individuals interpret positive social events.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A third cognitive variable that may be related to PEP is negative interpretation of positive social events. Alden, Taylor, Mellings, and Laposa (2008) demonstrated that negative interpretations of positive social events was associated with social anxiety in both undergraduates and individuals with social phobia. Laposa et al (2010) found that negative interpretation of positive social events was elevated in individuals with social phobia in comparison to those with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, and non-anxious controls.…”

Section: Predictors Of Pepmentioning

confidence: 98%

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A prospective examination of predictors of post-event processing following videotaped exposures in group cognitive behavioural therapy for individuals with social phobia

Laposa

Rector

2011

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Predictors Of Pepmentioning

confidence: 98%

A prospective examination of predictors of post-event processing following videotaped exposures in group cognitive behavioural therapy for individuals with social phobia

Laposa

Rector

2011

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

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“…However, social anxiety may be specifically characterized by aberrant processing of positive social information. Social anxiety has been related to diminished attentional allocation for positive social cues (Perowne & Mansell, 2002;Silvia, Allen, Beauchamp, Maschauer, & Workman, 2006;Taylor et al, 2010) and negatively biased processing of positive social information (Alden, Taylor, Mellings, & Laposa, 2008;Laposa, Cassin, & Rector, 2010;Yoon & Zinbarg, 2007). It has also been proposed that social anxiety may be associated with a more general positive affect deficit, related to a tendency to suppress emotions (Kashdan & Collins, 2010;Watson & Naragon-Gainey, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of other people’s mental states affects humor in social anxiety

Samson

Lackner

Weiss

et al. 2012

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

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a b s t r a c tBackground and objectives: The present study examined the relationship between social anxiety and the appreciation of specific types of humor. It was expected that social anxiety would hinder the enjoyment of jokes particularly if the resolution of incongruity involves processing social cues and assessing the (false) mental states of others. Fifty-six participants rated three types of cartoons and a control condition for comprehensibility and funniness. Results: High degrees of social anxiety were associated with less enjoyment of cartoons that involved the interpretation of others' mental states (Theory of Mind), but not of semantic cartoons or visual puns. Furthermore, high social anxiety was related to longer response latencies of the funniness ratings, especially in the case of Theory of Mind cartoons. Limitations: A possible limitation is that the present study was conducted in individuals with social anxiety in the non-clinical range. Conclusions: The findings suggest that highly socially anxious people do not have a general humor processing deficit, but may feel threatened by tasks involving the mental states of others. The negative affect evoked by TOM humor may hinder the experience of funniness in highly socially anxious individuals, and it may also make it more difficult for them to rate their own amusement.

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“…Other research has suggested that socially anxious and nonsocially anxious individuals respond differently to positive social feedback (Wallace and Alden 1995;Alden et al 2008) and may fear positive evaluation as well (Weeks et al 2010). In the present study, there were two main differences between the social anxiety groups in their cognitive responses to positive feedback.…”

Section: Response To Social Cuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, socially anxious individuals have demonstrated excessive self-monitoring (Clark and Wells 1995) and excessive attention to threatening social stimuli Asmundson and Stein 1994;Hope et al 1990). Socially anxious individuals also tend to interpret social information in an overly negative way (Beard and Amir 2009;Hirsch and Clark 2004) and attribute positive social feedback to factors other than personal ability (Wallace and Alden 1995;Alden et al 2008). Additionally, emerging evidence suggests that socially anxious individuals experience fear in response to both negative and positive evaluation (Weeks et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Anxiety and Response to Positive and Negative Online Social Cues

Bautista

Hope

2015

Cogn Ther Res

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High social anxiety is associated with negative interpretations of social feedback, maladaptive attributions for success and failure, and excessive attention to internal and external threat cues. In the present study, 40 undergraduate participants with either high or low levels of social anxiety engaged in a series of social interactions with varying types of social feedback: negative, mixed-negative, mixed-positive, and positive. Given the increasing engagement in computer-mediated communication among individuals with high levels of social anxiety, these interactions took place via instant messaging software. Compared to participants with low social anxiety, participants with high social anxiety experienced more self-focused thoughts, negative thoughts, and state anxiety in response to increases in negative feedback. Participants with low social anxiety experienced fewer self-focused thoughts in response to increased negative feedback, resulting in a significant crossover interaction. Qualitative and quantitative differences regarding cognitive processes and computer-mediated communication among individuals with high and low social anxiety are discussed.

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Social anxiety and the interpretation of positive social events

Cited by 135 publications

References 46 publications

A prospective examination of predictors of post-event processing following videotaped exposures in group cognitive behavioural therapy for individuals with social phobia

A prospective examination of predictors of post-event processing following videotaped exposures in group cognitive behavioural therapy for individuals with social phobia

Perception of other people’s mental states affects humor in social anxiety

Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Anxiety and Response to Positive and Negative Online Social Cues

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