Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Social phobia, defined as a significant fear or anxiety across social situations, affects many people and has severe consequences, including loss of employment, substance abuse and depression. Dysfunctional beliefs are known to maintain social phobia, and changing these beliefs is effective in treatment. Identifying beliefs that lead to fear in social situations can therefore provide insight into new treatment avenues. One belief which shows promise in other disorders is the fear of losing control. By experimentally manipulating the fear of losing control, this study aims to identify whether greater fear of losing control will lead to increased social anxiety and decreased likeability in otherwise healthy undergraduate students. Participants will complete an oral reading task assessing their ability to control their speech and will be told, based on their score, that they are either more or less likely to lose control. They will then be asked to participate in a getting to know you task in which they meet and rate another student (who is actually a confederate) on likeability. Prior to meeting this student, participants will be warned not to say anything which might make a negative impression on their partner as they will be rating their own and one another's likeability. We expect that those participants who are told they are at risk of losing control will experience greater anxiety during the social interaction, and will be less likeable by self-report and confederate rating. These findings will provide insight into the role of beliefs about losing control in social phobia, potentially leading to new treatment targets.