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The social implications of anxiety have received little empirical attention. Moreover, the continuity of interpersonal processes associated with clinical and non-clinical levels of chronic social anxiety has not been systematically investigated. The relation between interpersonal behavior and anxiety reported during naturally occurring social interactions was examined in two studies; the first examined community volunteers exhibiting a range of chronic social anxiety levels, while the second compared individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder (GSAD) to a matched sample of non-clinical controls. Unique patterns were expected to emerge with respect to state versus chronic levels of social anxiety. State social anxiety was conjectured to predict an alliance-protective response characterized by increased levels of agreeable behavior and decreased levels of quarrelsome behavior. Chronic social anxiety was hypothesized to predict a self-protective interpersonal style characterized by increased levels of submissive behavior and decreased levels of dominant behavior. Event-level appraisals of inferiority were expected to moderate this self-protective orientation; socially anxious individuals were expected to report enhanced levels of submission and reduced levels of dominance during interactions in which subjective inferiority was elevated. As predicted, increased state social anxiety was associated with decreased levels of quarrelsome behavior. Elevated state anxiety was also associated with increased levels of submissive behavior. This pattern was observed across all levels of chronic social anxiety, although participants with GSAD displayed an even greater tendency to increase submissiveness in response to state social anxiety compared to controls. As predicted, elevated levels of chronic social anxiety were associated with increased submissive behavior and decreased dominant behavior across all levels of state social anxiety. Subjective appraisals of inferiority enhanced levels of submission and reduced levels of dominance among socially anxious individuals. The results illustrated separate patterns of behavior for state and chronic social anxiety and were consistent with the proposition that situational elevations in social anxiety are associated with alliance-protective behavior strategies while chronic elevations are associated with a self-protective orientation that is amplified by sensitivity to negative social cues. The findings also supported the contention that social anxiety is a continuous construct associated with similar interpersonal processes across clinical and non-clinical populations.

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Although epidemiological data show that Asians are less often diagnosed with social phobia than are North Americans, North American studies show that Asians self-report higher levels of social anxiety than their European heritage counterparts. The present study examined this apparent discrepancy in an undergraduate sample of: a) students of Chinese heritage born in Hong Kong or Taiwan (N= 65), b) Canadian-born students of Chinese heritage (N= 51), and c) Canadianborn students of European heritage (N= 62). Participants completed a questionnaire battery as well as a face-to-face interview that assessed levels of social anxiety and impairment. Results showed that foreign-born Chinese participants reported significantly greater social anxiety and impairment than students of European heritage in both the questionnaire and interview format. The same general pattern was found among participants who had clinically severe levels of social anxiety.

Although epidemiological data show that Asians are less often diagnosed with social phobia than are North Americans, North American studies show that Asians self-report higher levels of social anxiety than their European heritage counterparts. The present study examined this apparent discrepancy in an undergraduate sample of: a) students of Chinese heritage born in Hong Kong or Taiwan (N= 65), b) Canadian-born students of Chinese heritage (N= 51), and c) Canadianborn students of European heritage (N= 62). Participants completed a questionnaire battery as well as a face-to-face interview that assessed levels of social anxiety and impairment. Results showed that foreign-born Chinese participants reported significantly greater social anxiety and impairment than students of European heritage in both the questionnaire and interview format. The same general pattern was found among participants who had clinically severe levels of social anxiety. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

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This study examined the impact of positive or negative interpersonal feedback on standard-setting, affect, and motivational concerns, within the framework of selfregulation theories of social anxiety. Thirty-two individuals who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (rev. 3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for social phobia and 32 nonclinical controls participated in a successful or unsuccessful conversation with an assistant. Subjects rated two aspects of self-regulation (self-efficacy and standards), positive and negative affect, and motivational concerns. Consistent with predictions, socially phobic subjects displayed a discrepancy between what they believed they could achieve (efficacy) and what they believed others expected of them (standard) and the magnitude of this discrepancy increased when they had succeeded at the social task. In addition, anxious subjects reported higher levels of positive affect after experiencing social success than they did after experiencing social failure but they did not relinquish protective concerns. There was no evidence that socially phobic subjects were distressed by social success but the results illuminate dysfunctional standard-setting. Specifically, socially phobic individuals perceive larger discrepancies between their ability and expectations following success than they do following failure.

This study examined the impact of positive or negative interpersonal feedback on standard-setting, affect, and motivational concerns, within the framework of selfregulation theories of social anxiety. Thirty-two individuals who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (rev. 3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for social phobia and 32 nonclinical controls participated in a successful or unsuccessful conversation with an assistant. Subjects rated two aspects of self-regulation (self-efficacy and standards), positive and negative affect, and motivational concerns. Consistent with predictions, socially phobic subjects displayed a discrepancy between what they believed they could achieve (efficacy) and what they believed others expected of them (standard) and the magnitude of this discrepancy increased when they had succeeded at the social task. In addition, anxious subjects reported higher levels of positive affect after experiencing social success than they did after experiencing social failure but they did not relinquish protective concerns. There was no evidence that socially phobic subjects were distressed by social success but the results illuminate dysfunctional standard-setting. Specifically, socially phobic individuals perceive larger discrepancies between their ability and expectations following success than they do following failure. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate