Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
46 (2015) 164e169
Short report
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 1 April 2014
Received in revised form
9 October 2014
Accepted 9 October 2014
Available online 23 October 2014
Background and objectives: The bivalent fear of evaluation (BFOE) model suggests that fears of negative
evaluation (FNE) and positive evaluation (FPE) are distinct features in social anxiety disorder as well as in
non-clinical variations of social anxiety. The constructs can be measured utilizing the Brief Fear of
Negative Evaluation Scale e Revised (BFNE-R) and the Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES), respectively.
Whereas the distinction between FNE and FPE has been well examined in survey studies, concomitant
evidence from laboratory tasks is scarce.
Methods: The present study tested whether subjective unpleasantness responses to short lms simulating positive and negative evaluation from others are related to individual differences in FNE and FPE.
Ninety-eight unselected individuals watched 24 short lms displaying actors expressing positive,
negative and neutral sentences and rated their responses on unpleasantness. Furthermore, pride responses to positive lms were examined since these can be expected to discriminate between FPE and
FNE.
Results: As expected, higher BFNE-R scores were related to more unpleasant responding to negative
lms, whereas higher FPES scores were related to more unpleasant responding to positive lms.
Furthermore, experience of pride following positive lms correlated positively with BFNE-R, but negatively with FPES scores.
Limitations: Participants were university students which limits representativeness.
Conclusions: The study revealed that measures of FNE and FPE show distinct relationships with positive
and negative social feedback which provides further evidence for the BFOE model in a laboratory setting.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Social anxiety disorder
Fear of negative evaluation
Fear of positive evaluation
Pride
Emotion
1. Introduction
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with severe psychosocial impairments and a high rate of comorbid disorders (Lieb
& Mller, 2002). Central for SAD, socially anxious individuals
expect to be negatively evaluated by others and feel worse about it
165
1
The two samples exhibited no differences on age, but sample 2 contained a
higher proportion of male participants than sample 1 (c2 12.18, p < .001) due to
increased efforts to balance gender distribution during recruitment of sample 2.
However, correlation patterns did not change according to gender.
2
EMG and ERP data showed main effects of the valence but no covariation with
FNE and FPE.
3
anger, contempt, fear, guilt, embarrassment, rejection, sadness, joy, appreciation and being liked/loved.
166
4
CESD-R scores were included as a covariate, as a study by Gilbert (2000)
showed a signicant correlation between pride and CESD-R scores, and CESD-R
scores in the present study were strongly correlated with BFNE-R scores (r .53,
p < .001).
Table 1
Means and standard deviations for all variables examined in test 1 and 2.
Variables
Test 1 e Unpleasantness (N 95)
Unpleasantness ratings of negative sentences
Unpleasantness ratings of positive sentences
Unpleasantness ratings of neutral sentences
Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale e Revised (BFNE-R)
Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES)
Test 2 e Pride (N 41)
Pride ratings of positive sentences
Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale e Revised (BFNE-R)
Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES)
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised
(CESD-R)
Unpleasantness ratings of positive sentences
SD
78.73
20.48
43.60
35.03
19.23
12.10
13.89
17.30
9.58
12.84
54.02 22.82
37.66 11.29
21.76 14.74
14.98 9.16
14.85 12.72
167
Fig. 1. Partial correlations between residual unpleasantness ratings for the sentence categories and BFNE-R (Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale-Revised) or FPES (Fear of Positive
Evaluation Scale), when controlling for the respective other questionnaire.
Fig. 2. Partial correlations between residual pride ratings for positive sentences and BFNE-R or FPES, when controlling for the respective other questionnaire, depression and
residual unpleasantness ratings for positive sentences.
might also have a stronger need for approval as higher FNE relates
to higher evaluative concerns and perfectionism (Flett, Hewitt, &
De Rosa, 1996; Hewitt & Flett, 1991; Wu & Wei, 2008).
Furthermore, the opposing correlation pattern of pride with
measures of FPE versus FNE highlights the important distinct role of
FPE above FNE as components in social anxiety: positivity impairment (e.g., reduced positive automatic thoughts) and
168
disqualication of positive social experiences, observed in individuals with SAD (e.g., see Kashdan, Weeks, & Savostyanova, 2011
for a review) seem to be tied more strongly to FPE than to FNE
(Weeks & Howell, 2012). The present negative correlation of pride
(i.e., a positive emotional experience) and FPES scores might be due
to attributional mechanisms: Individuals with high FPE might have
difculties in attributing positive outcomes to their own behavior
or global self (i.e. Tracy & Robins, 2007a).
According to the present results, pride might be an important
target in psychological treatments of social anxiety. Leary, Haupt,
Strausser, and Chokel (1998) showed that self-esteem and selfrelevant affect (e.g., pride) increase with positive interpersonal
feedback. However, in light of the present results, positive feedback
may enhance self-esteem in high FNE individuals (see Reijntjes
et al., 2011 for such results in children), but appears counterproductive for high FPE individuals. Alternatively, socially anxious
individuals could also experience high trait levels of FPE and FNE,
which are activated dependent on context. Consequently, positive
social feedback results in state reductions in pride (since FPE is
activated), whereas negative feedback results in state increases in
pride (since FNE is activated).
Several limitations to the present study must be acknowledged.
All of the participants were students and therefore do not represent
a diversity of demographic characteristics. Although dimensional
models of SAD have gained prominence (Ruscio, 2010) a replication
in a clinical sample may be desirable. Furthermore, video responses, despite giving considerably more specicity in a
controlled laboratory setting compared to trait questionnaires, are
still subject to some of the known biases of self-report of emotion
(Robinson & Clore, 2002). In addition because of the instruction at
the beginning of the experiment imagine a real interaction we
cannot preclude emotional response ratings being partially based
on imagined scenarios. Therefore, future research could substantiate the present results with psychophysiological and implicit
measures as well as the assessment of eye gaze tendencies during
actual social interactions.
In conclusion, the present study revealed that FNE and FPE can
be seen as two distinct constructs when evaluated in relation to
positive and negative social feedback. Furthermore, the reactions of
pride to positive sentences differed with regard to FNE and FPE,
supporting the notion that FNE and FPE serve distinct social goals.
Together, these tests were based on the BFOE model which might
have utility in complementing current theories of social anxiety.
Although the eld has made great strides by focusing on negative
aspects of social anxiety, enhanced focus upon positivity impairment and responses to positive versus negative social events will
yield continued renements to our knowledge base, assessment,
and treatment of social anxiety.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Maria Schwitalla, Dominik
Jourdan, Sabrina Freier and Doris Bauer for their assistance in this
research.
This research received no specic grant from any funding
agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-prot sectors.
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