Abstract
This study examined the discrepancy between self-established standards and self-efficacy in social situations. Socially anxious and nonanxious men rated a series of standards for judging the adequacy of their performance in an upcoming social interaction; subjects also rated their social self-efficacy, or perceived ability to handle the interaction. Nonanxious subjects expected their ability to equal or exceed all standards of evaluation. Anxious subjects expected their ability to equal that of the average subject and also believed their performance would match their personal standard. However, anxious subjects believed their social behavior would fall short of what they believed the experimenter expected of them. No support was found for the idea that socially anxious men establish perfectionistic standards. Rather, they believed that others held standards for them that they could not achieve. The results are congruent with cognitive theories of social anxiety.
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This article is based on a master's thesis by the first author under the supervision of the second author. Preparation of this article was supported by a grant to the second author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The first author was supported by fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
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Wallace, S.T., Alden, L.E. A comparison of social standards and perceived ability in anxious and nonanxious men. Cogn Ther Res 15, 237–254 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173016
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173016