du Rocher, Andrew R. and Pickering, Alan. 2024. Social interaction anxiety, social phobia, and cognitive control: controlled reactions to facial affect during an emotional face flanker task. Current Psychology, 43(5), pp. 4129-4141. ISSN 1046-1310 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Trait social anxiety may predict differences in the cognitive control of emotional distraction when emotional face discrimination is required. This effect can be investigated using an emotional face flanker task. This study addresses an important research gap, as previous studies did not separate the effects of trait social interaction anxiety from the effects of trait social phobia upon emotional face flanker task performance. In this laboratory based behavioural experiment, the 87 participants (mean age 24.3) were university students or staff recruited via departmental adverts. We used an emotional (happy versus fearful) face flanker task, and assessed sub-clinical social anxiety with the SIAS/SPS. Elevated trait social phobia was related to an increased reaction time (RT) congruency effect, whereas trait social interaction anxiety was not. Elevated trait social interaction anxiety was related to a decreased happy face RT advantage for central target faces, but the effect of trait social phobia was very weak. Trait social interaction anxiety and trait social phobia may predict subtle differences when the cognitive control of reactions to emotional facial expressions is required.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04624-y
Additional Information:	Funding: This work was funded by Goldsmiths, University of London.
Data Access Statement:	Data Availability: The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Keywords:	Social interaction anxiety, Social phobia, Social observation anxiety, Emotional faces, Flanker task, Cognitive control
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 27 March 2023 Accepted 17 April 2023 Published Online February 2024 Published
Item ID:	33437
Date Deposited:	03 May 2023 09:09
Last Modified:	26 Apr 2024 15:45
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/33437

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