Implicit associations and social anxiety
Author
Summary, in English
The aim of this study was to test whether an Implicit Association Test (IAT) with self- and social anxiety-words is sensitive to differences in trait social anxiety, and to an experimental induction of social anxiety. This was performed in the context of a partial replication of a previous study, in which Mauss et al. (2004) compared high and low trait socially anxious individuals before and after a social anxiety induction (an impromptu speech). Mauss et al.'s findings were replicated; that is, (i) the social anxiety induction produced increases in self-rated anxiety, self-rated physiological responses, and actual physiological arousal; and (ii) higher trait social anxiety was associated with stronger self-rated anxiety and stronger self-rated physiological responses, but not with stronger actual physiological responses. In addition, the results showed higher IAT social anxiety scores, both (i) as a result of the social anxiety induction, and (ii) as a function of self-reported trait social anxiety. It is suggested that the IAT may be a useful method for the experimental study of automatic evaluational thought patterns.
Department/s
Publishing year
2007
Language
English
Pages
43-51
Publication/Series
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Volume
36
Issue
1
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Topic
- Psychology
Keywords
- cognitive processes
- physiological activation
- anxiety induction
- social anxiety
- implicit associations
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1651-2316