Self-evaluations of social rank and affiliation in social anxiety: Explicit and implicit measures

摘要

We examined implicit and explicit self-evaluations (SEs) and their relation to social anxiety. So far, research indicated that individuals high in social anxiety consistently report low explicit SE, while concurrently exhibiting high implicit SE. To understand this pattern, we highlight the distinctions between the domains of social rank and of affiliation. In Study 1, participants (N = 113) completed a self-report measure of global SE, as well as self-ratings of social rank and affiliation measures. In Study 2 (N = 84), implicit measures (based on self-IAT, Implicit Association Task, Greenwald & Farnham, 2000) versions of social rank and affiliation SE were added. In both Study 1 and Study 2, severity of social anxiety was negatively associated with social rank, but not affiliation SEs, over and above the association with depression and global SE. In Study 2, social anxiety severity was negatively associated with explicit and implicit measures of social rank above and beyond the influence of general SE, depression, and explicit and implicit measures of affiliation. The interpersonal nature of SEs in the context of social anxiety is discussed.