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Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety
Published on: November 11, 2022
A multilevel analysis of the interpersonal behavior of socially anxious people
Jonathan Oakman1, Shannon Gifford, Natasha Chlebowsky
1Psychology Department, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. jmoakman@watarts.uwaterloo.ca
Abstract:
We investigate the interpersonal behavior of socially anxious (SA) and non-socially anxious (NSA) individuals at three different levels of analysis, focusing on the dimensions of warmth and dominance. Study 1 examines self-reported general interaction styles, Study 2 explores behavior occurring within the context of a single interaction, and in Study 3 we focus on the performance of a single conversational act (a disagreement). Studies 1 and 2 adopt the framework of Interpersonal Circumplex Theory (IPC; Kiesler, 1983), which is well suited for studying trait-level and interaction-level social behaviors, while Study 3 is grounded in Politeness Theory (PT; Brown & Levinson, 1987), which can be used to analyze individual acts at the microstructural level. The potential mutual relevance of PT and IPC is also discussed.
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