Examining the Dynamics of the Implicit and the Explicit Self-Concept in Social Anxiety: Changes in the Implicit Association Test–Anxiety and the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory Following Treatment

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed changes in the strength of self-anxiety associations—as measured by the Implicit Association Test–Anxiety (IAT–Anxiety; Egloff & Schmukle, 2002) and the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory (SPAI; Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Stanley, 1989)—following treatment of social anxiety. We assessed socially anxious participants (N = 24) prior to and following a group-based treatment; and we assessed healthy controls (N = 24) at matched time points. Results showed (a) higher implicit and explicit anxiety in socially anxious participants (as compared to controls) prior to treatment and (b) reductions in IAT–Anxiety and SPAI scores of socially anxious participants following treatment. We discuss implications of these results for clinical applications of the IAT.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) Grant EG 143/1–1. We thank the Student Counseling Center (Psychotherapeutische Beratungsstelle) of Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz and especially Ines Leu for their cooperation and support during data collection.

Notes

¹The IAT belongs to a class of personality tests that usually is referred to as implicit tests or indirect measures (De Houwer, 2005). Recently, Schultheiss (2007) suggested using the terms declarative and nondeclarative personality tests instead of the obsolete terms objective and projective (Meyer & Kurtz, 2006). According to this classification, the IAT is a good example of a nondeclarative personality test. Bornstein (2007), in contrast, would probably classify the IAT into the category performance-based tests.

∗p < .05.

∗∗ p < .01.

²These results do not say that cognitive factors are more important than other potentially contributing factors (e.g., emotional, motivational, neurological, etc.) in social anxiety. Rather, they say that cognitive factors play a role in the dynamics of social anxiety.

³We thank the Editor for raising this issue.