Social avoidance behaviour modulates automatic avoidance actions to social reward-threat conflict

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Social Cognition

Background:

• Social avoidance behaviour (SAB) impairs social engagement and is linked to psychopathologies.
• Dual-process models suggest automatic approach/avoidance tendencies guide social behavior.
• Previous research explored psychopathology's effect on automatic actions, but not SAB's.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how social avoidance behaviour (SAB) modulates automatic action tendencies.
• To examine automatic approach-avoidance responses to social reward, threat, and conflict in individuals with varying levels of SAB.

Main Methods:

• One hundred and three adults completed a modified approach-avoidance task (AAT).
• Stimuli included ambiguous facial expressions varying in social reward, social threat, or conflict.
• Social avoidance behaviour (SAB) was assessed and correlated with reaction times.

Main Results:

• SAB was not associated with automatic actions to single variations of social reward or threat.
• A quadratic (U-shaped) pattern emerged: SAB was linked to faster automatic avoidance to social reward-threat conflict.
• This association remained significant, independent of internalizing and social anxiety symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Social avoidance behaviour (SAB) uniquely influences automatic action tendencies in social reward-threat conflict situations.
• Findings suggest a specific mechanism underlying SAB, distinct from general social anxiety.
• Results have potential clinical implications for understanding and treating social avoidance behaviours.