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Explicit and implicit self-evaluations in social anxiety disorder.
Eva Gilboa-Schechtman1, Hadar Keshet1, Tamar Livne1
1Department of Psychology.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
|February 14, 2017
Summary
Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) show lower explicit and implicit self-evaluations in social rank and affiliation domains compared to controls. Differences were more pronounced in social rank, supporting evolutionary theories of SAD.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) highlight the role of explicit and implicit self-evaluations (SEs).
- Previous research shows lower explicit SEs in SAD, but findings on implicit SEs are inconsistent.
- Understanding SEs across different interpersonal domains is crucial for SAD research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate explicit and implicit SEs in social rank and affiliation domains in individuals with SAD.
- To compare SEs between individuals with SAD and nonclinical controls (NCCs).
- To examine whether differences in SEs are more pronounced in the social rank domain compared to affiliation, as predicted by evolutionary theories.
Main Methods:
- Participants included individuals diagnosed with SAD (n=38) and NCCs (n=40).
- Two variants of the Self Implicit Association Test (SIAT) were used, one for social rank and one for affiliation.
- Participants also provided self-ratings on social-rank and affiliation traits.
Main Results:
- Individuals with SAD exhibited lower explicit and implicit SEs in both social rank and affiliation domains compared to NCCs.
- The difference in SEs between SAD and NCC groups was greater for social rank than for affiliation.
- This pattern held true for both implicit and explicit SEs.
Conclusions:
- Findings support cognitive theories of SAD by demonstrating lower explicit and implicit SEs in individuals with SAD.
- Results align with evolutionary accounts, emphasizing the importance of the social rank system in SAD.
- A multidomain, multimethod approach is valuable for understanding SAD and related disorders.
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