Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: March 14, 2025
Changes in self-perception during treatment of social phobia
Stefan G Hofmann1, David A Moscovitch, Hyo-Jin Kim
1Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA. shofmann@bu.edu
Abstract:
Ninety individuals with social phobia were randomly assigned to a waitlist control group, a cognitive-behavioral therapy group, or an exposure therapy group without explicit cognitive intervention. Two independent raters classified more than 2,000 thoughts that were reported by participants while anticipating socially stressful situations at pretest and posttest. Each thought was classified on the basis of its valence (positive, negative, or neutral) and attentional focus (self or other). The 2 treatments demonstrated a greater reduction in the frequency of negative self-focused thoughts than the control group. Changes in negative self-focused thoughts and changes in social anxiety were significantly correlated only in the cognitive-behavioral therapy group. The implications of these findings for the cognitive model of social phobia are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Foundations of Self III: Self-Evaluation
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Strategies of Self-Presentation II: Self-Verification