Self-image and self-focused attention in a social interaction situation: what is relevant for social anxiety?

Background: According to Clark and Wells' cognitive model (Clark and Wells, 1995), social anxiety is maintained by both a negative self-image and self-focused attention (SFA). Although these maintaining factors were investigated extensively in previous studies, the direction of this relationship remains unclear, and so far, few studies have investigated self-image and SFA together within a current social interaction situation.

Aims: The aim of this experiment is to investigate the influence of a negative versus positive self-image on social anxiety and on SFA during a social interaction.

Does self-focused attention in social anxiety depend on self-construal? Evidence from a probe detection paradigm.

Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder propose self-focused attention as a key maintenance factor of the disorder. However, whether this holds true for different cultural contexts has not been investigated. The present experiment investigated the influence of self-construal (interdependent versus independent) on self-focused attention in high and low socially anxious individuals.

How do I look? Self-focused attention during a video chat of women with social anxiety (disorder).

We investigated the role of self-focused attention (SFA) in social anxiety (disorder) in an ecologically valid way. In Experiment 1 high (n = 26) versus low (n = 25) socially anxious single women between 18 and 30 years had a video ("Skype") conversation with an attractive male confederate, while seeing themselves and the confederate on-screen. The conversation was divided in four phases: (I) warm-up, (II) positive (confederate was friendly to the participant), (III) critical (confederate was critical to the participant), and (IV) active (participant was instructed to ask questions to the confederate).