Socially anxious individuals elici
t less posi
tive reac
tions from in
terlocu
tors
than non-anxious individuals, bu
t evidence for a dis
tinc
tive social anxie
ty linked behaviour defici
t to explain
this finding has been sparse. We inves
tiga
ted whe
ther socially anxious individuals engage less in
joint action – a process which promo
tes rappor
t and usually arises spon
taneously be
tween conversa
tion par
tners when
they ac
tively a
ttend
to
the conversa
tion.
Methods
In Study 1, participants with high fear of negative evaluation, and low fear of negative evaluation conversed with a peer. Study 2 simulated the cognitive impact of anxiety-linked threat focus in non-anxious participants via a partial distraction task and measured the social consequences.
Results
In Study 1, listeners with high fear of negative evaluation made fewer collaborative contributions to a partner's anecdote (an index of joint action). In Study 2, non-anxious distracted listeners showed the same behavioural pattern (fewer collaborative responses) and were less well-liked by their conversation partners, compared to non-distracted listeners.
Limitations
We coded for only one marker of joint action. Future research should identify further indices of connectedness between partners. In addition, both studies were conducted with small groups of university students, and future research should be conducted on larger samples selected on the basis of social anxiety, not fear of negative evaluation alone.
Conclusions
Together, these findings indicate that socially anxious individuals engage less in the shared task of conversation, and this behaviour attracts less positive responses from conversation partners.
