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Constructive Effects of Engaging in Post-Event Processing in High and Low Socially Anxious Individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2012

Steve R. Makkar  and
Jessica R. Grisham
Steve R. Makkar*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia
Jessica R. Grisham
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Steve R. Makkar, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia. E-mail: srm@unsw.edu.au
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Abstract

Post-event processing (PEP), the act of engaging in a detailed, self-focused, and negative analysis of a prior social situation, has been hypothesised to contribute to the maintenance of social phobia (Clark & Wells, 1995). In light of this proposal, the present study investigated whether deliberate engagement in PEP as opposed to distraction following a speech task elicits unhelpful effects on emotion, cognition, and behaviour in a subsequent speech task in high and low socially anxious participants. The PEP manipulation instructed participants to focus on the anxious thoughts, images, feelings, and somatic sensations relating to the first speech. Contrary to hypotheses, results demonstrated that engaging in PEP as opposed to distraction led to a number of constructive outcomes such as: increased willingness among low socially anxious participants to give the second speech, a reduction in negative performance appraisals and underestimation of performance among high socially anxious participants, and better self-perceived speech quality irrespective of social anxiety level. However, there were no effects of response condition on anxiety, performance appraisals, observable behaviour, and negative cognitions. The findings underscore the need for additional research identifying the precise contents, construals, and processing modes that distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive forms of PEP.

Keywords

social anxietysocial phobiapost-event processingrumination
Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , September 2012 , pp. 127 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

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