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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Social phobia and positive social events: the price of success
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Abstract:
Patients with generalized social phobia (N = 32; 16 men, 16 women) and nonclinical control participants (N = 32; 16 men, 16 women) took part in a social interaction that was manipulated to be successful or unsuccessful. Participants rated their ability, perceptions of others' standards, social goals, and emotional responses before and after the interactions. As predicted, the successful social interaction produced a somewhat negative response in patients with social phobia. Social success led to self-protective social goals, negative emotional states and perceptions that others would expect more in future interactions. These results indicate that positive social events may not be processed in a way that leads to a revision of negative self- and social judgments in patients with social phobia.
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