[Disorders of assertiveness and social anxiety]

Assertiveness is a multidimensional concept use to describe individual's social functioning, from normal adaptation to pathological worries of social inefficacy. Several psychological impairments are evoked in assertiveness disorders, leading to the discussion of cognitive and emotional functioning in such pathology. These pathologies are represented by the social anxiety spectrum, an heterogeneous syndrome from shyness to social phobia in which functional dysregulation are discussed to explain the missadaptation. Experimental approach are developed to test the cognitive hypothesis proposed in assertiveness and social anxiety, and to discuss the clinical and psychopathological status of assertiveness disorders.