Self-Verification and Social Anxiety: Preference for Negative Social Feedback and Low Social Self-Esteem

• Published in: Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 601 - 617
• Main Authors: Valentiner, David P., Skowronski, John J., McGrath, Patrick B., Smith, Sarah A., Renner, Kerry A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.10.2011
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders - psychology; Anxiety Disorders - therapy; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Biological and medical sciences; Choice Behavior; Cognitive Therapy; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Depressive Disorder - therapy; Fear; Feedback, Psychological; Female; Humans; Internal-External Control; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Medical sciences; Models, Psychological; Motivation; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Phobia; Phobic Disorders - diagnosis; Phobic Disorders - psychology; Phobic Disorders - therapy; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics - statistics & numerical data; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reference Values; Reinforcement (Psychology); Reproducibility of Results; Self Concept; Statistics as Topic; Young Adult; self; interpersonal model; Social anxiety; Human; Social preference; Theoretical model; Social interaction; Social phobia; Anxiety disorder; Feedback regulation; Self esteem; Self; Interpersonal relation
• ISSN: 1352-4658; 1469-1833
• DOI: 10.1017/S1352465811000300

Background: A self-verification model of social anxiety views negative social self-esteem as a core feature of social anxiety. This core feature is proposed to be maintained through self-verification processes, such as by leading individuals with negative social self-esteem to prefer negative social feedback. This model is tested in two studies. Methods: In Study 1, questionnaires were administered to a college sample (N = 317). In Study 2, questionnaires were administered to anxiety disordered patients (N = 62) before and after treatment. Results: Study 1 developed measures of preference for negative social feedback and social self-esteem, and provided evidence of their incremental validity in a college sample. Study 2 found that these two variables are not strongly related to fears of evaluation, are relatively unaffected by a treatment that targets such fears, and predict residual social anxiety following treatment. Conclusions: Overall, these studies provide preliminary evidence for a self-verification model of social anxiety.