The Effect of Emotion-Based Therapy on the Emotional Capital of Women with Social Anxiety

Background: Emotional capital is one of the decisive variables that can be effective in improving the condition of women with social anxiety. Objective: The study aimed to determine the effect of emotion therapy on the emotional capital of women with social anxiety. Method: The research method was experimental, pretest-posttest with a control group, and a one-month follow-up period. The statistical population of this study was women with symptoms of social anxiety who were referred to counseling centers Nedaye Fetrat and Behesht in Isfahan in 2020. The 30 individuals sample determined by the available sampling based on the inclusion criteria who scored higher than 40 on the social anxiety scale of Connor et al. (2000, screening form) and were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15). And the control group (15 people) was assigned. The emotional capital questionnaire (Golparvar, 2016) and social anxiety questionnaire (Connor, 2000) were used to collect information. The experimental group underwent emotion-focused treatment for 10 sessions. But the control group did not receive any psychological intervention. Data were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results: The results showed that emotion group therapy had a significant effect on increasing emotional capital and its dimensions (positive emotion, feeling of energy, and happiness) in women with social anxiety with an effect size of 80% (P <0.01). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, emotion-based therapy can be used as a method of increasing the emotional capital of women with social anxiety.