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Social anxiety and empathy Auyeung, Karen Wei
Abstract
Individuals with high levels of social anxiety often have difficulty developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships (Alden & Taylor, 2004). Researchers have uncovered many of the negative cognitive and behavioural processes that mediate the relationship between social anxiety and relationship difficulties (e.g., Baker & Edelmann, 2002; Stopa & Clark, 1993) however, relatively little research has investigated the relationship between social anxiety and the basic social and emotional processes that facilitate positive relational functioning (Lochner et al., 2003; Schneier et al., 1994). One such factor is the ability to empathize with the emotional and cognitive experience of others. The link between social anxiety and empathy has not been examined. In this study, 121 undergraduate participants observed videos of individuals discussing high school events in which they were either socially included or excluded. Participants rated the positive and negative emotions the target individuals were feeling while discussing the events. The absolute discrepancy between participants’ and targets’ emotion ratings was used as a measure of empathic accuracy. This study produced preliminary evidence that socially anxious individuals demonstrate greater accuracy at empathizing with others’ negative affect. This finding however, appears to be specific to negative social experiences such as exclusion, and only occurs when the viewer themselves is experiencing a degree of social pain or social scrutiny. There was also partial evidence that socially anxious individuals perceive more negative affect in comparison to how others’ rate themselves. This result was only found in participants in the social threat experimental condition, suggesting that negative cognitive biases may be activated when socially anxious individuals feel anxious and/or socially scrutinized. These results provide continuing support for research on empathy gaps for social pain.
Item Metadata
Title |
Social anxiety and empathy
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2012
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Description |
Individuals with high levels of social anxiety often have difficulty developing and
maintaining interpersonal relationships (Alden & Taylor, 2004). Researchers have uncovered
many of the negative cognitive and behavioural processes that mediate the relationship between
social anxiety and relationship difficulties (e.g., Baker & Edelmann, 2002; Stopa & Clark, 1993)
however, relatively little research has investigated the relationship between social anxiety and
the basic social and emotional processes that facilitate positive relational functioning (Lochner et
al., 2003; Schneier et al., 1994). One such factor is the ability to empathize with the emotional
and cognitive experience of others. The link between social anxiety and empathy has not been
examined. In this study, 121 undergraduate participants observed videos of individuals
discussing high school events in which they were either socially included or excluded.
Participants rated the positive and negative emotions the target individuals were feeling while
discussing the events. The absolute discrepancy between participants’ and targets’ emotion
ratings was used as a measure of empathic accuracy. This study produced preliminary evidence
that socially anxious individuals demonstrate greater accuracy at empathizing with others’
negative affect. This finding however, appears to be specific to negative social experiences such
as exclusion, and only occurs when the viewer themselves is experiencing a degree of social pain
or social scrutiny. There was also partial evidence that socially anxious individuals perceive
more negative affect in comparison to how others’ rate themselves. This result was only found in
participants in the social threat experimental condition, suggesting that negative cognitive biases
may be activated when socially anxious individuals feel anxious and/or socially scrutinized.
These results provide continuing support for research on empathy gaps for social pain.
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Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2013-08-31
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0073038
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2012-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International