Affective outcomes in superficial and intimate interactions: Roles of social anxiety and curiosity

Does gaze anxiety predict actual gaze avoidance and is it more informative than social anxiety?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

In recent years eye-tracking studies have provided converging evidence that socially anxious individuals avoid looking at other people's faces in social situations. In addition to these objective measures, the Gaze Anxiety Rating Scale (GARS) has increasingly been used as a self-report measure of gaze avoidance. However, extant results concerning its predictive validity were inconsistent. Moreover, no study has considered social anxiety and gaze anxiety together to examine their relative contributions to actual gaze behavior.

METHODS

To address these two questions, eye-tracking data collected from 81 female students during the initial 6 min of a face-to-face conversation with a female confederate were analyzed. Gaze anxiety and social anxiety were measured via the GARS and the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale.

RESULTS

The results revealed that gaze anxiety was associated with reduced face gaze while speaking. Social anxiety was not only associated with decreased face gaze during speaking, but also across the initial conversation. Moreover, there was no evidence that gaze anxiety made an additional contribution to social anxiety in predicting face gaze behavior.

LIMITATIONS

This study examined face gaze instead of eye gaze. Additionally, the self-report data were not collected on the same day as the eye-tracking data.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate that, in a community sample, gaze anxiety does predict actual gaze behavior during a face-to-face initial encounter, but social anxiety is a stronger predictor.

Social anxiety is related to reduced face gaze during a naturalistic social interaction

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety has long been related to reduced eye contact, and this feature is seen as a causal and a maintaining factor of social anxiety disorder. The present research adds to the literature by investigating the relationship between social anxiety and visual avoidance of faces in a reciprocal face-to-face conversation, while taking into account two aspects of conversations as potential moderating factors: conversational role and level of intimacy.

METHOD

Eighty-five female students (17-25 years) completed the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale and had a face-to-face getting-acquainted conversation with a female confederate. We alternated conversational role (talking versus listening) and manipulated intimacy of the topics (low versus high). Participants' gaze behavior was registered with Tobii eye-tracking glasses. Three dependent measures were extracted regarding fixations on the face of the confederate: total duration, proportion of fixations, and mean duration.

RESULTS

The results revealed that higher levels of social anxiety were associated with reduced face gaze on all three measures. The relation with total fixation duration was stronger for low intimate topics. The relation with mean fixation duration was stronger during listening than during speaking.

CONCLUSION

The results highlight the importance of studying gaze behavior in a naturalistic social interaction.

Achieving Mutual Understanding Without Saying a Word: The Conceptualization of Moqi and a Nomological Network

While the construct of moqi (默契, pronounced ‘mò-chee’) is ubiquitously understood and finds itself in everyday conversations around the home and workplace in China, the theoretical development of moqi has been scarce. In this article, we expand on prior work on moqi and conceptualize moqi as a dyadic level construct that describes a situated state of shared contextualized understanding without saying a word between two counterparties. We further articulate a broader view of moqi as a dyadic communication construct that is both target-specific and situation-specific. We propose a nomological network of moqi that shows how shared contextualized understandings between counterparties are informed by several different layers, including ‘capability’ (a) a generalized proclivity to be able to form such understandings with others, and ‘contributing factors’, (b) how those understandings are formed either (i) through interactions or (ii) without them through overlaps in background characteristics or experiences, and (c) how other factors accentuate the capability and inclination to ultimately achieve moqi. We then discuss several potential consequences of moqi in organizational settings. Finally, we discuss why moqi is a powerful form of effective communication that is meaningful beyond the Chinese cultural context.

The Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory - Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ) and its Relationship with Everyday Behaviors

This study aimed to adapt and validate the Spanish version of the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory-Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ; Corr & Cooper, 2016) and to demonstrate how RST constructs are associated with a variety of everyday behaviors. To achieve this goal, three studies have been conducted. In Study 1, a direct translation of the items from English to Spanish was pilot-tested in a sample of 139 students and a descriptive analysis of items was conducted. Moreover, a reverse translation and comparison between the two English versions were carried out by the lead author of the original questionnaire and the items were refined accordingly. In Study 2, the questionnaire's internal structure was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and the predictive validity was assessed using the Criterion Set of Act Clusters in a sample of 1,281 participants. Finally, a study of convergent validity with other measures of personality was performed in Study 3 with 190 participants. The obtained results suggested that the RST-PQ has adequate psychometric properties and the convergent validity results with other personality measures replicate findings from previous research. Having a Spanish language version of the RST-PQ is important, not only to advance RST research but also to demonstrate that this theoretical approach contributes to the prediction and explanation of different behaviors whether they are healthy or pathological ones.

Emojis predict dropouts of remote workers: An empirical study of emoji usage on GitHub

Emotions at work have long been identified as critical signals of work motivations, status, and attitudes, and as predictors of various work-related outcomes. When more and more employees work remotely, these emotional signals of workers become harder to observe through daily, face-to-face communications. The use of online platforms to communicate and collaborate at work provides an alternative channel to monitor the emotions of workers. This paper studies how emojis, as non-verbal cues in online communications, can be used for such purposes and how the emotional signals in emoji usage can be used to predict future behavior of workers. In particular, we present how the developers on GitHub use emojis in their work-related activities. We show that developers have diverse patterns of emoji usage, which can be related to their working status including activity levels, types of work, types of communications, time management, and other behavioral patterns. Developers who use emojis in their posts are significantly less likely to dropout from the online work platform. Surprisingly, solely using emoji usage as features, standard machine learning models can predict future dropouts of developers at a satisfactory accuracy. Features related to the general use and the emotions of emojis appear to be important factors, while they do not rule out paths through other purposes of emoji use.

Social anxiety and rumination in the context of the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory and the mediation model of social anxiety

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between temperament, ruminative thought style and social anxiety using latent variable modeling. Before examining the integrated model that specifies the relations between the constructs, relevant measurement issues were examined. The study was conducted on a heterogeneous sample from the general population that included 1,029 participants (62.1% female) aged 19 to 79. The findings show that the Behavioural Inhibition System is the most important vulnerability factor for the development of social anxiety, and it has both a direct effect and an indirect one through the ruminative thought style. Also, Freeze has an additional contribution to the increased experience of social anxiety. The Behavioural Approach System has complex effects on social anxiety ? with a direct protective effect, and indirectly ? with a facilitation of the ruminative thought style. Thus, BAS can also act as a risk factor. The findings support the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and provide a basis for the extension of the Kimbrel?s Mediation Model of Social Anxiety.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travelers' preference for crowded versus non-crowded options

Crowding is a critical determinant of consumers' satisfaction with and preferences for different shopping and travel situations. When considering a selection of travel and hospitality options, travelers are influenced by perceived crowding. This research examined how the current health crisis (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic) affects travelers' preferences for crowded and non-crowded options. Specifically, we predicted that travelers would have a diminished preference for crowded (vs. non-crowded) travel and hospitality options when the ongoing pandemic is salient. We demonstrated that the primary effect of the salience of the threat was persistent across different travel categories and contexts. We also found that travelers with high levels of sensation seeking and a high need for uniqueness show the opposite pattern, suggesting a possible recovery strategy from the pandemic. Five experimental studies provide several theoretical and managerial implications for travel and hospitality business marketers.

Psychometric Evaluation of a Controlled Social Affiliation Paradigm: Findings From Anxiety, Depressive Disorder, and Healthy Samples

Social impairments are common across many psychiatric conditions. Standardized dyadic assessments intended to elicit social affiliation between unacquainted partners are used to elucidate mechanisms that disrupt relationship formation and inform possible treatment targets; however, the psychometric properties of such paradigms remain poorly understood. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of a controlled social affiliation paradigm intended to induce connectedness between a target participant and trained confederate. Individuals with an anxiety or depressive disorder diagnosis (clinical group; n = 132) and those without (control group; n = 35) interacted face-to-face with a trained confederate; partners took turns answering a series of increasingly intimate questions about themselves. Social connectedness, affect, and affiliative behavior measures were collected during the interaction. Participant symptom and social functioning measures were collected to examine validity. The paradigm elicited escalating social connectedness throughout the task for both participants and confederates. Parallel forms (i.e., different question sets) elicited similar affiliation outcomes. Self-reported (but not behavioral) affiliation differed across some demographic variables (e.g., participant gender, Hispanic ethnicity). Within-task affiliation measures were associated with one another and with global social connectedness and social anxiety symptom measures, but not with somatic anxiety measures. Clinical participants reported lower social affiliation and positive affect reactivity and higher negative affect reactivity than healthy participants. These findings provide initial psychometric support for a standardized and controlled dyadic affiliation paradigm that could be used to reliably probe social disconnection mechanisms across psychopathology.

Social Anxiety and the Generation of Positivity During Dyadic Interaction: Curiosity and Authenticity Are the Keys to Success

What drives positive affective and interpersonal experiences during social interaction? Undergraduates with high (n = 63) or low (n = 56) trait social anxiety (SA) were paired with unfamiliar low SA partners in a 45-minute conversation task. Throughout the task, participants and their conversation partners completed measures of affiliative goals, affect, curiosity, authenticity, and attentional focus. Both affective and interpersonal outcomes were assessed. Dyadic analyses revealed that participants' affiliative goals during the social interaction predicted positive outcomes for both themselves and their partners, although the link between affiliative goals and positive affect was weaker for participants with high SA. Mediation analyses demonstrated that adopting affiliative goals may promote more positive outcomes by increasing participants' curiosity and felt authenticity. Taken together, results illuminate the pathways through which people with varying levels of trait SA may derive interpersonally generated positive affect and positive social outcomes, with implications for clinical theory and practice.

How anxiety predicts interpersonal curiosity during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediation effect of interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency

With the worldwide implementation of quarantine regulations to suppress the spread of the COVID-19, anxiety, interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency may decrease individuals' desire to seek interpersonal information and thus might have negative effects on their interpersonal curiosity. Through behavioral paradigms and scales, two studies were conducted (Study 1: n = 570; Study 2: n = 501). We explored the predictive effect of anxiety on interpersonal curiosity in situations when mandatory isolation measures have led to dramatic changes in interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency. We found that interpersonal distancing and autistic tendency negatively predicted interpersonal curiosity, and these predictive effects suppressed the positive prediction of state anxiety to interpersonal curiosity. Our research provides insights into the relationships among anxiety, curiosity, interpersonal distancing, and autistic tendency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Incurious Motives to Seek Information about Potential Threats

In Study 1, 20 incurious worry reduction motive (IWRM) items were administered to 280 participants along with curiosity and worry scales. With factor analysis, two six–item scales were developed: focus on distress (IWRM–FD) and focus on relief (IWRM–FR). IWRM–FD was associated with wanting positive news about threats, whereas IWRM–FR was related to wanting negative news to be free from further worry. Neither the curiosity nor worry scales predicted wanting information. In Study 2, the IWRM scales were administered to 170 participants along with a coping inventory. IWRM–FD correlated with avoidant–coping, whereas IWRM–FR was associated positively with active–coping and advice–seeking. The results suggest that IWRM–FD reflects a desire to minimize distress, whereas IWRM–FR motivates identifying and dealing directly with problems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Social context and the real-world consequences of social anxiety

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety lies on a continuum, and young adults with elevated symptoms are at risk for developing a range of psychiatric disorders. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that govern the hour-by-hour experience and expression of social anxiety in the real world.

METHODS

Here we used smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to intensively sample emotional experience across different social contexts in the daily lives of 228 young adults selectively recruited to represent a broad spectrum of social anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS

Leveraging data from over 11 000 real-world assessments, our results highlight the central role of close friends, family members, and romantic partners. The presence of such close companions was associated with enhanced mood, yet socially anxious individuals had fewer confidants and spent less time with the close companions that they do have. Although higher levels of social anxiety were associated with a general worsening of mood, socially anxious individuals appear to derive larger benefits - lower levels of negative affect, anxiety, and depression - from their close companions. In contrast, variation in social anxiety was unrelated to the amount of time spent with strangers, co-workers, and acquaintances; and we uncovered no evidence of emotional hypersensitivity to these less-familiar individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide a framework for understanding the deleterious consequences of social anxiety in emerging adulthood and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.

Reinforcement sensitivity, depression and anxiety: A meta-analysis and meta-analytic structural equation model

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) posits that individual differences in reward and punishment processing predict differences in cognition, behavior, and psychopathology. We performed a quantitative review of the relationships between reinforcement sensitivity, depression and anxiety, in two separate sets of analyses. First, we reviewed 204 studies that reported either correlations between reinforcement sensitivity and self-reported symptom severity or differences in reinforcement sensitivity between diagnosed and healthy participants, yielding 483 effect sizes. Both depression (Hedges' g = .99) and anxiety (g = 1.21) were found to be high on punishment sensitivity. Reward sensitivity negatively predicted only depressive disorders (g = -.21). More severe clinical states (e.g., acute vs remission) predicted larger effect sizes for depression but not anxiety. Next, we reviewed an additional 39 studies that reported correlations between reinforcement sensitivity and both depression and anxiety, yielding 156 effect sizes. We then performed meta-analytic structural equation modeling to simultaneously estimate all covariances and control for comorbidity. Again we found punishment sensitivity to predict depression (β = .37) and anxiety (β = .35), with reward sensitivity only predicting depression (β = -.07). The transdiagnostic role of punishment sensitivity and the discriminatory role of reward sensitivity support a hierarchical approach to RST and psychopathology.

Facial Affect and Interpersonal Affiliation: Displays of Emotion During Relationship Formation in Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) often involves difficulty developing relationships. Facial expressions are important in relationship formation, but data are limited regarding facial display production among persons with SAD during social interaction. The current study compared facial displays of individuals diagnosed with SAD (n=41) to control participants (n=24) as they interacted with a confederate; confederates and observers then rated their desire for future interaction with participants. Automated software used the Facial Action Coding System (FACS; Ekman & Friesen, 1978) to classify displays. During portions of the interaction that involved listening to partners, the SAD group smiled less frequently and less intensely than controls, and lower smiling was associated with others' lower desire for future interaction with participants. Diminished positive facial affect in response to interaction partners may disrupt relationship formation in SAD and may serve as an effective treatment target.

Evaluating the Indirect Effects of Trait Mindfulness Facets on State Tripartite Components Through State Rumination and State Experiential Avoidance

The present study investigated whether specific trait mindfulness facets indirectly influenced state negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA), and physiological hyperarousal (PH) through state rumination and state experiential avoidance. Participants (n = 360, 68% female) rated trait mindfulness facets, then completed an interview task about life experiences intended to elicit state NA, PA, and PH. After the interview task, participants completed measures of state NA, PA, and PH, and state measures of rumination and experiential avoidance. Indirect effect results indicated that the relationships between Nonjudge, Nonreact, and Describe, and each of the state tripartite components indirectly flowed through state rumination. Further, there was a significant indirect effect of Nonjudge and Actaware on each of the three state tripartite components through experiential avoidance. Overall, strengthening the mindfulness skills of Nonjudge, Nonreact, Describe, and Actaware may have positive downstream effects via reducing reliance on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as rumination or experiential avoidance.

On Curiosity: A Fundamental Aspect of Personality, a Practice of Network Growth

Human personality is reflected in patterns-or networks-of behavior, either in thought or action. Curiosity is an oft-treasured component of one's personality, commonly associated with information-seeking proclivities with distinct neurophysiological correlates. The markers of curiosity can differ substantially across people, suggesting the possibility that personality also determines the architectural style of one's curiosity. Yet progress in defining those styles, and marking their neurophysiological basis, has been hampered by fairly fundamental difficulties in defining curiosity itself. Here, we offer and exercise a definition of the practice of curiosity as knowledge network building, one particular pattern of thought behavior. To unpack this definition and motivate its utility, we begin with a short primer on network science and describe how the mathematical object of a network can be used to map items and relations that are characteristic of bodies of knowledge. Next, we turn to a discussion of how networks grow, how their growth can be modeled, and how the practice of curiosity can be formalized as a process of network growth. We pay particular attention to how individuals may differ in how they build their knowledge networks, and discuss how the sort, manner, and action of building can be modulated by experience. We discuss how this definition of the practice of curiosity motivates new experiments and theory development at the interdisciplinary intersection of network science, personality neuroscience, education, and curiosity studies. We close with a note on the potential of network science to inform studies of other domains of personality, and the patterns of thought- or action-behavior characteristic thereof.

The affective tie that binds: Examining the contribution of positive emotions and anxiety to relationship formation in social anxiety disorder

Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) have difficulty forming social relationships. The prevailing clinical perspective is that negative emotions such as anxiety inhibit one's capacity to develop satisfying social connections. However, empirical findings from social psychology and affective neuroscience suggest that positive emotional experiences are fundamental to establishing new social bonds. To reconcile these perspectives, we collected repeated measurements of anxiety, positive emotions (pleasantness), and connectedness over the course of a controlled relationship formation encounter in 56 participants diagnosed with SAD (64% female; M_age=23.3, SD=4.7). Participants experienced both increases in positive emotions and decreases in anxiety throughout the interaction. Change in positive emotions was the most robust predictor of subsequent increases in connectedness, as well as a greater desire to engage one's partner in future social activities, above and beyond reductions in anxiety (medium to large sized effects). Those findings suggest that anxiety-based models alone may not fully explain difficulties in relationship formation in SAD, and underscore the potential value of considering positive emotional experiences in conceptual and treatment models of SAD.

Reinforcement Sensitivity and Social Anxiety in Combat Veterans

OBJECTIVE

The present study tested the hypothesis that low behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity is associated with social anxiety in combat veterans.

METHOD

Self-report measures of reinforcement sensitivity, combat exposure, social interaction anxiety, and social observation anxiety were administered to 197 Iraq/Afghanistan combat veterans.

RESULTS

As expected, combat exposure, behavioral inhibition system (BIS) sensitivity, and fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS) sensitivity were positively associated with both social interaction anxiety and social observation anxiety. In contrast, BAS sensitivity was negatively associated with social interaction anxiety only. An analysis of the BAS subscales revealed that the Reward Responsiveness subscale was the only BAS subscale associated with social interaction anxiety. BAS-Reward Responsiveness was also associated with social observation anxiety.

CONCLUSION

The findings from the present research provide further evidence that low BAS sensitivity may be associated with social anxiety over and above the effects of BIS and FFFS sensitivity.

A Comparison of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory Measures: Unique Associations With Social Interaction Anxiety and Social Observation Anxiety

Evidence suggests that the behavior inhibition system (BIS) and fight-flight-freeze system play a role in the individual differences seen in social anxiety disorder; however, findings concerning the role of the behavior approach system (BAS) have been mixed. To date, the role of revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) subsystems underlying social anxiety has been measured with scales designed for the original RST. This study examined how the BIS, BAS, and fight, flight, freeze components of the fight-flight-freeze system uniquely relate to social interaction anxiety and social observation anxiety using both a measure specifically designed for the revised RST and a commonly used original RST measure. Comparison of regression analyses with the Jackson-5 and the commonly used BIS/BAS Scales revealed important differences in the relationships between RST subsystems and social anxiety depending on how RST was assessed. Limitations and future directions for revised RST measurement are discussed.

Accuracy and Bias in Perceptions of Relationship Interest for Intergroup and Intragroup Roommates

Previous research suggests that the perception of anxiety in intergroup interactions can be detrimental to relationship formation. However, the underlying processes through which this occurs remain unclear. The present longitudinal study, which studied same- and different-race/ethnicity roommates over 6 weeks, investigated whether perceived partner anxiety moderates two types of processes previously shown to facilitate relationship development: (a) tracking accuracy, the relationship between perceivers’ assessments of their partner’s interest in remaining roommates and the partner’s stated interest and (b) positive directional bias, representing overestimation of partners’ relationship interest. Under high levels of perceived anxiety, both accuracy and directional bias were generally low, independent of the dyad type. In contrast, when perceived anxiety was relatively low, Whites and minorities in cross-race dyads and Whites in same-race dyads showed a positive directional bias in their evaluations; Whites in cross-race relationships also achieved tracking accuracy. Implications of perceived anxiety for perceptual dynamics in cross-group friendships are discussed.

Modifying automatic approach action tendencies in individuals with elevated social anxiety symptoms

Research suggests that social anxiety is associated with a reduced approach orientation for positive social cues. In the current study we examined the effect of experimentally manipulating automatic approach action tendencies on the social behavior of individuals with elevated social anxiety symptoms. The experimental paradigm comprised a computerized Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) in which participants responded to pictures of faces conveying positive or neutral emotional expressions by pulling a joystick toward themselves (approach) or by moving it to the right (sideways control). Participants were randomly assigned to complete an AAT designed to increase approach tendencies for positive social cues by pulling these cues toward themselves on the majority of trials, or to a control condition in which there was no contingency between the arm movement direction and picture type. Following the manipulation, participants took part in a relationship-building task with a trained confederate. Results revealed that participants trained to approach positive stimuli displayed greater social approach behaviors during the social interaction and elicited more positive reactions from their partner compared to participants in the control group. These findings suggest that modifying automatic approach tendencies may facilitate engagement in the types of social approach behaviors that are important for relationship development.

How are curious people viewed and how do they behave in social situations? From the perspectives of self, friends, parents, and unacquainted observers

OBJECTIVE

People who are open and curious orient their lives around an appreciation of novelty and a strong urge to explore, discover, and grow. Researchers have recently shown that being an open, curious person is linked to healthy social outcomes.

METHOD

To better understand the benefits (and liabilities) of being a curious person, we used a multimethod design of social behavior to assess the perspectives of multiple informants (including self, friends, and parents) and behavior coded from direct observations in unstructured social interactions.

RESULTS

We found an impressive degree of convergence among self, friend, and parent reports of curiosity, and observer-rated behavioral correlates of curiosity. A curious personality was linked to a wide range of adaptive behaviors, including tolerance of anxiety and uncertainty, positive emotional expressiveness, initiation of humor and playfulness, unconventional thinking, and a nondefensive, noncritical attitude.

CONCLUSIONS

This characterization of curious people provides insights into mechanisms underlying associated healthy social outcomes.

The Safety Bias: Risk-Avoidance and Social Anxiety Pathology

Background:The pervasive tendency to avoid perceived risks has been recently implicated in the maintenance of anxiety pathology, and more specifically, social phobia. Social anxiety symptoms are thus hypothesised to be associated with a global risk-avoidant decision-making bias.Aim:This study investigated: (1) the relationship between risk-avoidance and social anxiety symptoms using both self-report and behavioural measures of risk-taking; and (2) whether risk-avoidance mediates the relationship between a dispositional vulnerability to anxiety (Behavioural Inhibition System [BIS] sensitivity) and social anxiety symptoms.Method:Fifty-five undergraduate students completed self-report measures assessing for social anxiety symptoms, risk-taking across various domains, and BIS sensitivity. Risk-avoidance was also assessed using a behavioural computer task.Results:As hypothesised, risk-avoidance correlated significantly with both social anxiety and BIS. Multiple regression analyses revealed that risk-avoidance served as a partial mediator between BIS and social anxiety.Conclusion:These results confirm the hypothesised relationship between BIS, risk-avoidance, and social anxiety symptoms. Risk-avoidance is one possible mechanism by which personality characteristics may be linked to anxiety pathology.

When curiosity breeds intimacy: taking advantage of intimacy opportunities and transforming boring conversations

Curious people seek knowledge and new experiences. In 3 studies, we examined whether, when, and how curiosity contributes to positive social outcomes between unacquainted strangers. Study 1 (98 college students) showed that curious people expect to generate closeness during intimate conversations but not during small talk; less curious people anticipated poor outcomes in both situations. We hypothesized that curious people underestimate their ability to bond with unacquainted strangers during mundane conversations. Studies 2 (90 college students) and 3 (106 college students) showed that curious people felt close to partners during intimate and small-talk conversations; less curious people only felt close when the situation offered relationship-building exercises. Surprise at the pleasure felt during this novel, uncertain situation partially mediated the benefits linked to curiosity. We found evidence of slight asymmetry between self and partner reactions. Results could not be attributed to physical attraction or positive affect. Collectively, results suggest that positive social interactions benefit from an open and curious mind-set.

An examination of the relationship between behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity and social interaction anxiety

BACKGROUND

Both behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral approach system (BAS) sensitivity have been proposed to play a role in social anxiety; however, findings concerning the relationship between BAS and social anxiety have been mixed. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that low levels of BAS may only be associated with the social interaction subdimension of social anxiety.

METHOD

Measures of BIS, BAS, social interaction anxiety, and social observation anxiety were administered to three large analogue samples.

RESULTS

As hypothesized, BAS was inversely related to social interaction anxiety, but was unrelated to social observation anxiety across all three samples. In addition, individuals with generalized social fears were found to report both higher levels of BIS and lower levels of BAS compared to individuals with few or specific social fears.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that a complete motivational account of generalized social anxiety should include both BIS and BAS.

Sensitivity to punishment and low maternal care account for the link between bulimic and social anxiety symptomology

OBJECTIVE

The current study examined the joint effect of personality and parenting factors on the prediction of bulimia nervosa (BN) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) symptomology in a sample of female college students. The study also tested whether personality and parenting factors might account for the association between BN and SAD symptoms.

METHOD

One-hundred twenty-eight participants completed self-report measures assessing maternal care (MC), maternal overprotection, sensitivity to punishment (SP), sensitivity to reward (SR), and BN and SAD symptomology.

RESULTS

SP, SR, and MC each uniquely predicted BN symptoms, whereas only SP and MC predicted SAD symptoms. High SP interacted with low MC to predict BN and SAD symptoms over the main effects. In addition, SP, MC, and the interaction term SP x MC mediated the association between SAD and BN symptoms.

CONCLUSION

High SP and low MC appear to account for the link between BN and SAD symptomology, whereas high SR appears to distinguish the disorders.

Social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and post-event rumination: affective consequences and social contextual influences

Using a self-presentation perspective, we hypothesized that during social interactions in which social attractiveness could be easily appraised by others, more socially anxious individuals would be more prone to ruminate and rumination would have more adverse emotional consequences. After assessing social anxiety and depressive symptoms, unacquainted college students participated in 45-min structured social interactions manipulated to induce personal self-disclosure or mimic superficial, small-talk. Affective experiences were assessed immediately after and 24h after social interactions. Results found that social anxiety was associated with negative post-event rumination more strongly among those with elevated depressive symptoms. Further, at higher levels of social anxiety, post-event rumination was associated with increases in NA following personal disclosure interactions and decreases in NA following small-talk interactions. Individuals with more depressive symptoms experienced increases in NA following small-talk interactions, but not personal disclosure interactions. Contrary to expectation, positive relations between social anxiety and rumination were not mediated by self-presentation concerns during interactions. Fitting with relevant theory, findings implicated symptom and social contextual variables that moderate the affective consequences of rumination.