117,993 research outputs found
Does anticipation help or hinder performance in a subsequent speech?
No full textThis study examined the effects of anticipatory processing on a subsequent speech in high and low socially anxious participants. Forty participants (n = 20 in each group) gave two speeches, one after no anticipatory processing and one after 10-minutes of anticipatory processing. In anticipatory processing, high socially anxious participants were more anxious, and experienced more negative and unhelpful self-images than low socially anxious participants did. However, both groups rated memories of past speeches as having a somewhat helpful effect on their speech preparation. High socially anxious participants tended to use the observer perspective more in the anticipated speech, while, in the unanticipated speech, they might have been switching between observer and field perspectives. Low socially anxious participants tended to use the field perspective in both speeches. High and low socially anxious participants reported better speech performances after the anticipated, compared to after the unanticipated speech. Results suggest that anticipatory processing may have both positive and negative effects on socially anxious individuals' cognitive processing and performance before and during a speech
The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency in social anxiety
No full text[Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In: R. G. Heimberg, M. R.
Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: diagnosis, assessment, and treatment (pp.
69–93). New York: Guildford Press] cognitive model of social phobia suggests that both public and private
sources of information contribute to the construction of the self as a social object, which is thought to
maintain the disorder. This study used two concepts developed in social psychology that might help to
explain the processes that contribute to the development of this constructed self. These two concepts are the
spotlight effect [Gilovich, T., Medvec, V. H., & Savitsky, K. (2000). The spotlight effect in social judgment:
an egocentric bias in estimates of the salience of one’s own actions and appearance. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 78(2), 211–222] and the illusion of transparency [Gilovich, T., Medvec, V. H., &
Savitsky, K. (1998). The Illusion of transparency: biased assessments of others’ ability to read one’s own
emotional states. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(2), 332–346]. Participants performed a
memory task under either a low or a high social-evaluative condition. In the high social-evaluative
condition, participants reported higher levels of the spotlight effect and more negative evaluation of task
performance, compared to participants in the low social-evaluative condition. There were no differences
between the two conditions in levels of the illusion of transparency. Surprisingly, however, in the low socialevaluative
condition, participants reported higher levels of the illusion of transparency than the spotlight
effect, whereas, in the high social-evaluative condition, they reported the opposite. Results suggest that the
spotlight effect may be specific to social-evaluative concerns, whereas, the illusion of transparency may
represent more general features of social anxiety concerns. Implications of the results for Clark and Wells’
cognitive model of social phobia model are discussed
The looming maladaptive style in social anxiety
No full textThis exploratory study examined the relationship between the looming maladaptive style (i.e., an enduring and traitlike cognitive pattern to appraise threat as rapidly rising in risk, progressively worsening, or actively speeding up and accelerating) and three different aspects of trait social anxiety (i.e., fear of negative evaluation, social interaction anxiety, and public scrutiny fears) as well as general anxiety and depression. A large nonclinical, female-only sample (n = 152) completed the Looming Maladaptive Style Questionnaire–II (Riskind, J. H., Williams, N. L., Theodore, L. G., Chrosniak, L. D., & Cortina, J. M. (2000). The looming maladaptive style: Anxiety, danger, and schematic processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 837–852), which assesses two types of looming vulnerability: social (i.e., looming appraisals in response to potentially threatening social situations) and physical (i.e., looming appraisals in response to potentially threatening physical stimuli). Multiple regression analyses indicated that social looming uniquely predicted fear of negative evaluation, social interaction anxiety, and public scrutiny fears, accounting for 7%, 4%, and 3% of the variance, respectively. However, social looming did not predict depression. These findings support the looming model of anxiety and encourage further attention to the possible role of social looming as an anxiety-specific vulnerability factor in social anxiety
From the conscious into the unconscious: what can cognitive theories of psychopathology learn from Freudian theory?
No full textImplicit views of the self in social anxiety
No full textWe investigated dysfunctional attitudes in high (N=29) and low (N=28) socially anxious participants following a social-threat activation task (being told to give a speech) using the implicit association task (IAT: [Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The implicit association task. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480]) and the Social Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ: [Clark, D. M. (2001). Social Attitudes Questionnaire, revised. Unpublished manuscript, University of Oxford]). The study also looked at anticipatory thoughts about the speech using questionnaire (Social Cognitions Questionnaire (SCQ): [Wells, Stopa, & Clark (1993). The social cognitions questionnaire. Unpublished]) and think aloud methods. High socially anxious participants endorsed more negative attitudes on the SAQ. In the IAT both groups showed a bias towards associating positive words with self and negative words with other but this was weaker in the high socially anxious group than in the low. The high socially anxious group endorsed more negative thoughts about the speech on the SCQ, believed these thoughts more, and had more thoughts overall on the think-aloud task. There were no differences between the groups on the think-aloud task, but there was an interaction between level of depressive symptoms and thought valence. The results are considered in relation to other studies that have used an IAT to measure associations in social anxiety and in relation to Clark and Wells’ [(1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. G. Heimberg, M. Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment and treatment. New York: Guilford] model of social phobia
Peer support critical elements and experiences in supporting the homeless: a qualitative study
No full textPeer supporters are individuals with lived experience and are an integral part of health care systems, providing support to those affected by various phenomena such as homelessness and addictions. However, little is known about the critical elements that underpin peer support interventions. This qualitative study sought to understand the critical elements of intentional peer support with a homeless population, voiced by those who provide and/or receive this support. Twenty-nine participants from 4 different homeless charities in England were interviewed about their experiences of providing/receiving peer support and what they felt were critical factors to its success. Participants defined peer support as an experience-based relationship, built upon mutual understanding, empathy, and support. Thematic analysis was utilised to in developing 6 themes. Results identified peers' persistence in developing unique experience-based relationships, providing social support, role modelling recovery, and peers' motivations were perceived as important factors involved in peer support. It was also found that peers described benefitting from helping, such as, undergoing transformative identity developments that helped them to escape homelessness. Through the retelling of their stories, they create meaning and restructure their autobiography, attributing experiences of homelessness as a catalyst for positive changes in their lives. Limitations and future research are discussed.</p
Social phobia: comments on the viability and validity of an analogue research strategy and British norms for the Fear of Negative Evaluation Questionnaire
No full textThis paper discusses the viability of an analogue research design for studying key processes in social phobia by comparing individuals who score high and low on the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE: Watson & Friend, 1969). Research indicates remarkable consistency in the processes that distinguish patients with social phobia from controls and high FNE volunteers from low FNE volunteers. Unfortunately, all existing FNE norms are based on North American populations. The present paper presents British student norms and suggests possible cut-off points for defining groups for analogue research. Advantages of the analogue strategy include rapid piloting of new paradigms and the use of more complex experimental designs that require substantial sample sizes. Limitations of analogue research are also highlighted
Social phobia and interpretation of social events
No full textIt has been suggested that social phobia may be characterized by two interpretation biases. First, a tendency to interpret ambiguous social events in a negative fashion. Second, a tendency to interpret unambiguous but mildly negative social events in a catastrophic fashion. To assess this possibility, patients with generalized social phobia, equally anxious patients with another anxiety disorder, and non-patient controls were presented with ambiguous scenarios depicting social and non-social events, and with unambiguous scenarios depicting mildly negative social events. Interpretations were assessed by participants' answers to open-ended questions and by their rankings and belief ratings for experimenter-provided, alternative explanations. Compared to both control groups, patients with generalized social phobia were more likely to interpret ambiguous social events in a negative fashion and to catastrophize in response to unambiguous, mildly negative social events
Strategic cognition in paranoia: the use of thought control strategies in a non-clinical population
No full textBackground: Recent work in the area of cognition and emotion has focused on the process as well as the content of thought. Metacognitive approaches have included studies of people's relationship with internal experience (cf. Teasdale and Barnard, 1993), and the overarching beliefs that guide allocation of internal resources to manage distress (cf. Wells, 2000). At the same time, cognitive models of psychosis have emphasized the clinical value of a multidimensional understanding of paranoia (Chadwick, 2006; Freeman and Garety, 2004b). Method: This study examined paranoia in a non-clinical group, specifically (i) the relationship between a single measure of trait paranoia and dimensions of paranoid thought frequency, belief conviction and distress, and (ii) the metacognitive strategies that people use. It was predicted that trait paranoia would be associated with (i) dimensions of thought frequency, belief conviction and distress, and (ii) the internal strategies of “punishment” and “worry.” Results: Regression analyses showed that trait paranoia uniquely predicted frequency, conviction and distress associated with paranoid thoughts. Trait paranoia accounted for the use of “reappraisal”, whereas “punishment” and “worry” were accounted for by anxiety. Conclusions: The implications for clinical work and further research are discussed
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