Anxiety and self-disclosure: toward a motivational model

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Social anxiety is often characterized by a fear of negative evaluation and a desire to avoid social situations.
• Arkin's (1981) motivational theory posits that social anxiety stems from a self-protective motive.
• Understanding self-disclosure patterns is crucial for comprehending social interaction dynamics in anxiety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate self-disclosure patterns in socially anxious individuals within the context of Arkin's motivational theory.
• To examine how social anxiety influences reciprocity in self-disclosure.
• To explore the interpersonal consequences of self-protective strategies employed by socially anxious individuals.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-four women were paired with a confederate instructed to disclose at either high or low intimacy levels.
• Participants' self-disclosures were assessed in relation to their partner's intimacy level.
• Interpersonal reactions, including liking and discomfort, were measured.

Main Results:

• Socially anxious individuals exhibited moderate self-disclosure, irrespective of their partner's intimacy level, aligning with self-protection motives.
• Anxious participants demonstrated poorer reciprocity of their partner's disclosures compared to nonanxious individuals.
• The self-protective behaviors of anxious individuals were linked to decreased liking and increased discomfort from their partners.

Conclusions:

• Self-protection appears to be a primary concern for socially anxious individuals during social interactions.
• The self-protective strategies adopted by socially anxious individuals may inadvertently lead to negative interpersonal outcomes.
• These negative reactions could contribute to the maintenance of self-defeating interpersonal patterns in social anxiety disorder.