How Do I Measure Up? The Impact of Observable Signs of Anxiety and Confidence on Interpersonal Evaluations in Social Anxiety

Previous research suggests that socially anxious individuals perceive observable signs of social anxiety (SA) as being interpersonally
costly and indicative of having less positive attributes, such as strength of character and attractiveness. In the current
study, female participants with high (n = 60) versus low (n = 59) levels of trait SA imagined a hypothetical interaction with a male social partner and rated their impressions of this
partner across five desirable attributes (ambition, happiness, strength of character, achievement, and intelligence), both
before and after the partner was described as appearing either visibly anxious or confident. Results suggested that while
both high and low SA participants perceived observable symptoms of anxiety as being interpersonally undesirable, the two groups
differed significantly in their appraisals of observable social confidence, with high but not low SA participants attributing
highly positive characteristics to confident partners relative to baseline. Combined with their perception that observable
anxiety is undesirable, high SA participants’ idealized perception of confident partners as being “larger than life” may contribute
to persistent feelings of inferiority and expectations of criticism and rejection in social encounters.