Cognitive Therapy and Research

, Volume 31, Issue 1, pp 23–37 | Cite as

Attentional Bias Toward Facial Stimuli Under Conditions of Social Threat in Socially Phobic and Nonclinical Participants

Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

The present studies examined attentional bias for photographed faces and household objects among individuals diagnosed with generalised social phobia using a letter-probe computer task. Study 1 was conducted to replicate previous findings showing evidence of avoidance for faces among individuals diagnosed with generalised social phobia using a similar methodology as Mansell, W., Clark, D., Ehlers, A., and Chen, Y. P. (1999, Cognition and Emotion, 13(6), 673–690) on a clinical sample. Thirty-one clinical participants and 32 matched controls received identical threat instructions regarding an upcoming speech-task following the computer task. Contrary to previous findings, clinical participants demonstrated a preference for attending toward faces than household objects, regardless of facial expression and more so than controls. Study 2 was conducted on a different clinical sample in an attempt to replicate the findings of Study 1 with clearer instructions regarding the upcoming speech task. Thirty-one clinical participants and 32 matched controls were administered the same speech threat and task instructions as those used by Mansell, W., Clark, D., Ehlers, A., and Chen, Y. P. (1999, Cognition and Emotion, 13(6), 673–690). Findings revealed the same pattern found in Study 1. Hence, in contrast to previous findings, both studies demonstrated that under conditions of social threat individuals diagnosed with generalised social phobia are more vigilant of pictorial faces generally than non-anxious individuals. The current findings lend support to cognitive models predicting that anxious individuals prefer to attend more to social cues of threat, in this case, faces. Explanations for these contradictory findings on attentional processing in social phobia are discussed with reference to the possible impact of perceived social threat and altered levels of state anxiety. Suggestion is also made for clearer research to reconcile these seemingly opposing results.

Keywords

Attention Vigilance Avoidance Faces Social phobia 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr Alan Taylor for statistical guidance and advice.

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council grant #A79905353 and National and Medical Research Council grant #192107 to the second author.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PsychologyMacquarie UniversitySydneyAustralia

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