Increasing efficacy to reduce state anxiety: An application of the self-presentation theory of social anxiety.

Introduction: Social anxiety can produce adverse consequences across all levels of symptomology, and research attempting to study its causes and alleviation is critical. Although self-presentation theory offers a potential framework to reduce social anxiety across individual levels of symptomology and various contexts, the current study applied the theory to a novel paradigm in attempts to reduce state social anxiety within the context of a lab study. Specifically, impression efficacy's proposed negative relationship with social anxiety was considered. It was hypothesized that participants in the experimental condition would report decreases in social anxiety indirectly as a function of increased impression efficacy. Methods: Undergraduate participants (N = 125) completed structured interactions with confederates, where the experimental condition encountered a social obstacle and received positive feedback, and the control condition received neutral feedback. A mediation analysis tested if changes in impression efficacy mediated the effects of condition on changes in social anxiety. Results: As hypothesized, changes in impression efficacy significantly predicted changes in social anxiety, and the indirect effect of condition on changes in social anxiety, through changes in impression efficacy, was significant. Discussion: Although present conclusions cannot be generalized to trait social anxiety and more research is needed, results support the potential use of impression efficacy interventions in reducing social anxiety. Considering the prevalence and consequences of social anxiety, this simple and easily implemented intervention could be useful across settings, contexts, and anxiety levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]