Although neglected in diagnostic criteria lists, theoretical models, and treatment approaches, attenuated positive emotions and cognitions distinguish social anxiety and social anxiety disorder from other anxiety conditions (and cannot be accounted for by comorbidity with depression). We present a self-control resource depletion model to explain how the intense self-regulatory efforts of high s...

The Sex-linked Anxiety Coping Theory (SCT) suggests that anxiety should relate to performance more strongly for males than females. In Study 1, we examined how the theory applied to five interview anxiety dimensions (appearance anxiety, behavioral anxiety, communication anxiety, performance anxiety, and social anxiety) using actual job applicants. In general, females reported higher levels of e...

The current study sought to understand better the psychological characteristics of socially anxious individuals who seek information on the internet about social anxiety disorder and its treatment. Participants were 434 individuals who responded to an internet-based survey linked to the website of an anxiety specialty clinic. Using established cut-off scores, 92% of the sample met criteria for ...

Maternal separation (MS) is an animal model mimicking the effects of early life stress on the development of emotional and social behaviors. Recent studies revealed that MS stress increased social anxiety levels in female mice and reduced peri-pubertal aggression in male mice. Estrogen receptor (ER) β plays a pivotal role in the regulation of stress responses and anxiety-related and social beha...

The delay discounting paradigm was used to examine its utility in understanding motivational factors among socially anxious individuals. Participants (n=88) who reported high and low levels of social anxiety were randomly assigned to either a social threat or non-threat condition and their subsequent rates of discounting were examined. A significant difference in rates of discounting was found ...

Shyness and self-consciousness are related constructs describing a tendency for some people to fear and avoid the scrutiny of others. In some cases, these characteristics are so pronounced that the individual shuns most forms of interpersonal contact or endures these encounters only with intense discomfort. Such people suffer from what is alternately referred to as “social anxiety disorder” or ...