Constructing a self: the role of self-structure and self-certainty in social anxiety
Stopa, Luisa, Brown, Michael A., Luke, Michelle A. and Hirsch, Collette R. (2010) Constructing a self: the role of self-structure and self-certainty in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy (doi:10.1016/j.brat.2010.05.028). (In Press).
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Description/Abstract
Current cognitive models stress the importance of negative self-perceptions in maintaining social anxiety, but focus predominantly on content rather than structure. Two studies examine the role of self-structure (self-organisation, self-complexity, and self-concept clarity) in social anxiety. In study one, self-organisation and self-concept clarity were correlated with social anxiety, and a step-wise multiple regression showed that after controlling for depression and self-esteem, which explained 35% of the variance in social anxiety scores, self-concept clarity uniquely predicted social anxiety and accounted for an additional 7% of the variance in social anxiety scores in an undergraduate sample (N = 95) and the interaction between self-concept clarity and compartmentalisation (an aspect of evaluative self-organisation) at step 3 of the multiple regression accounted for a further 3% of the variance in social anxiety scores. In study two, high (n = 26) socially anxious participants demonstrated less self-concept clarity than low socially anxious participants (n = 26) on both self-report (used in study one) and on computerised measures of self-consistency and confidence in self-related judgments. The high socially anxious group had more compartmentalised self-organisation than the low anxious group, but there were no differences between the two groups on any of the other measures of self-organisation. Self-complexity did not contribute to social anxiety in either study, although this may have been due to the absence of a stressor. Overall, the results suggest that self-structure has a potentially important role in understanding social anxiety and that self-concept clarity and other aspects of self-structure such as compartmentalisation interact with each other and could be potential maintaining factors in social anxiety. Cognitive therapy for social phobia might influence self-structure, and understanding the role of structural variables in maintenance and treatment could eventually help to improve treatment outcome.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| ISSNs: | 0005-7967 (print) |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology |
| Divisions: | University Structure - Pre August 2011 > School of Psychology University Structure - Pre August 2011 > School of Management |
| Item ID: | 71234 |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2010 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Jun 2011 10:01 |
| Contributors: | Stopa, Luisa (Author) Brown, Michael A. (Author) Luke, Michelle A. (Author) Hirsch, Collette R. (Author) |
| Date: | June 2010 |
| Status: | In Press |
| URI: | http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/71234 |
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