Social Anxiety, Social Skills and Expectancy/ Cost of Negative Social Events

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between social anxiety, social skills and estimated cost as well as expectancy of negative social/non-social events. One hundred and twenty-six students (half males and half females) filled in the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), the Social Skills Inventory (SSI), and measures of expectancy and estimated cost of negative social and non-social events. Social anxiety was negatively correlated with self-reported social skills. Further, social anxiety was strongly related to both expectancy and estimated cost of negative social, as opposed to non-social, events. Social skills were related to expectancy, but not to estimated cost of negative social events. Finally, the correlation between social anxiety and expectancy of negative social events disappeared when social control (measured with a subscale of SSI) was partialized out of the relationship, whereas the correlation between social anxiety and estimated cost of negative social events did not. Potential therapeutic implications are discussed.