Threat-induced anxiety heightens perspective conflict in Level-1 visual perspective-taking

Visual perspective-taking (VPT), the capacity to infer what others see, is fundamental to social interaction and known to be sensitive to environmental and affective factors. While threatening contexts are known to impact socio-cognitive mechanisms, the specific influence of anxiety on VPT remains unclear. This study addresses this gap using the Dot Perspective Task. Fifty participants (27 females; mean age = 21.52 years ±3.77 years) performed the task under two within-participant conditions: a threat context (involving unpredictable, anxiety-inducing distress screams) and a safe context. Participants judged the number of dots visible from either their own or another agent's viewpoint in trials where both perspectives could be congruent or incongruent. Results revealed a larger congruency effect during threat blocks compared to safe blocks, particularly among participants highly sensitive to the anxiety manipulation. Furthermore, higher latent anxiety scores (extracted via PCA from state anxiety scales) correlated with increased interference between self and other perspectives. These findings suggest that anxiety heightens perspective conflict between self and other representations. These findings are discussed in relation to the ongoing debate on the interpretation of the Dot Perspective Task and more broadly in the context of defensive and helping social behaviours.