Individuals with Fear of Blushing Explicitly and Automatically Associate Blushing with Social Costs

To explain fear of blushing, it has been proposed that individuals with fear of blushing overestimate the social costs of
their blushing. Current information-processing models emphasize the relevance of differentiating between more automatic and
more explicit cognitions, as both types of cognitions may independently influence behavior. The present study tested whether
individuals with fear of blushing expect blushing to have more negative social consequences than controls, both on an explicit
level and on a more automatic level. Automatic associations between blushing and social costs were assessed in a treatment-seeking
sample of individuals with fear of blushing who met DSM-IV criteria for social anxiety disorder (n = 49) and a non-anxious control group (n = 27) using a single-target Implicit Association Test (stIAT). In addition, participants’ explicit expectations about the
social costs of their blushing were assessed. Individuals with fear of blushing showed stronger associations between blushing
and negative outcomes, as indicated by both stIAT and self-report. The findings support the view that automatic and explicit
associations between blushing and social costs may both help to enhance our understanding of the cognitive processes that
underlie fear of blushing.