Implicit associations and social anxiety.
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.
Westberg
Peter
P
Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Lundh
Lars-Gunnar
LG
Jönsson
Peter
P
D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D003071:Cognition; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014825:Vocabulary