Incremental Validity for the Prediction of Social Anxiety by Personality Dimensions and Negative Social Cognitions: Testing a Process Model of Social Anxiety

Using Beck’s cognitive model of emotional disorders as a foundation, and existing models of how reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality, and biased cognitions for negative and threatening social information contribute to social anxiety, a process model of social anxiety was proposed in the study. In this model, reinforcement sensitivity personality dimensions, negative social self-beliefs, fear of negative evaluation, and self-verbalization during performance in social settings were viewed as contributing in sequence to social anxiety. To test this model, the study used hierarchical regression to examine the incremental validity for these predictions in the order just mentioned. Three hundred and four adults (101 males, 203 females) completed measures on behavioral inhibition and approach, maladaptive cognitive beliefs, fear and distress related to negative evaluation from others, negative and positive self-statements, and social anxiety. The findings indicated that at each step, the variables entered provided additional variance for the prediction of social anxiety above and beyond the preceding variables. These findings were interpreted as supportive of our process model of social anxiety.