Performance and interaction anxiety: specific relationships with other- and self-evaluation concerns

Abstract

This study examines whether performance anxiety (PA) is specifically associated with other-evaluation concerns and interaction anxiety (IA) with self-evaluation concerns. Individuals with public speaking fears and high levels of PA or IA were distinguishable from nonanxious controls on measures taken during a public speaking challenge. In addition, high PA individuals exhibited more observer-rated negative speech characteristics in an Other-Evaluation condition compared to a Self-Evaluation condition, but high IA individuals and nonanxious individuals did not. These results provide some evidence for the distinctiveness of these dimensions of social anxiety.

Keywords:

• social anxiety
• performance anxiety
• interaction anxiety
• speech behavior

Acknowledgements

We appreciate the contributions of the many research participants and of the research assistants who helped with these studies, including Patricia Erbstoesser, Tracey Fostiak, Emily LeFew, Michelle Miller, Tracy Muklewicz, Nicole Patterson, Laura Redd, Sarah Smith, and Karen Wiemeyer, and for helpful comments from John Skowronski. Support for this research was provided by a Dissertation Completion Award to the first author from Northern Illinois University, and by an Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program grant to the third author. This study includes data collected by the first author in partial fulfillment of her doctoral dissertation requirements under the supervision of the second author, and data collected by the third author in partial fulfillment of her honors thesis requirements under the supervision of the second author. Earlier analyses of these data were presented at the 35th and the 39th Annual Conventions of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy/Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.