Cognitive Therapy and Research

, Volume 37, Issue 6, pp 1091–1100 | Cite as

Reactions to Teasing in Social Anxiety

Original Article
First Online:

Abstract

The combination of challenge and humor inherent in teasing creates an ambiguous situation that can either increase bonding or create tension in a relationship, depending on how the teasing is interpreted. Although it is well established that individuals with social anxiety interpret ambiguous social situations negatively, no research has examined how individuals with social anxiety react to and interpret teasing. Ninety undergraduate students with high (n = 56) and low (n = 34) levels of social anxiety read vignettes depicting teasing scenarios, and rated how they would feel and behave in the situations. Participants also completed a self-report measure of recalled childhood teasing. Compared to the low social anxiety group, participants in the high social anxiety group reported that they would experience more negative affect in response to the teasing scenarios, and interpreted the teasing scenarios as more malicious and mean-spirited. As well, participants in the high social anxiety group reported being more likely to change the behavior that was the focus of teasing (e.g., changing the way they dress if the focus of teasing was their outfits) compared to participants in the low social anxiety group. Recalled childhood teasing partially mediated group differences on negative affect and behavior change in response to the teasing scenarios. The present results are consistent with the information processing bias literature and have implications for the social functioning of individuals with high levels of social anxiety.

Keywords

Social anxiety Relationships Teasing Information processing 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access

Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) and an Ontario Mental Health Foundation (OMHF) Studentship awarded to the first author. The authors would like to thank Natalie Ein, Heather Hood, Elisa Jackson, Amanda Perri, Jenny Rogojanski, Tara Sehovic, and Valerie Vorstenbosch for their assistance in data collection.

Conflict of interest

The authors do not have any conflicts of interest to disclose.

References

  1. Alberts, J. K., Kellar-Guenther, Y., & Corman, S. (1996). That’s not funny: Understanding recipients’ responses to teasing. Language and Social Psychology, 25, 153–177.Google Scholar
  2. Alden, L. E., Wiggins, J. S., & Pincus, L. S. (1990). Construction of circumplex scales for the inventory of interpersonal problems. Journal of Personality Assessment, 55, 521–536.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic statistical manual of mental disorders, Fourth Edition—text revision. Washington, DC: Author.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Amir, N., Beard, C., & Bower, E. (2005). Interpretation bias and social anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 433–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Amir, N., Foa, E. B., & Coles, M. E. (1998). Negative interpretation bias in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 945–957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Antony, M. M., Coons, M. J., McCabe, R. E., Ashbaugh, A., & Swinson, R. P. (2006). Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory: Further evaluation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1177–1185.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Antony, M. M., Roth, D., Swinson, R. P., Huta, V., & Devins, G. M. (1998). Illness intrusiveness in individuals with panic disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, or social phobia. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 5, 311–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Aronson, E., Biegler, H., Bond, B., Clark, R. A., Drogos, K., & Garcia, M. A. (2007). Norms for teasing among college students. Communication Research Reports, 24, 169–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Barnett, M. A., Burns, S. R., Sanborn, F. W., Bartel, J. S., & Wilds, S. J. (2004). Antisocial and prosocial teasing among children: Perceptions and individual differences. Social Development, 13, 292–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Beard, C., & Amir, N. (2010). Negative interpretation bias mediates the effects of social anxiety on state anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 292–296.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Beck, S., Clabaugh, S. E., Clark, R. A., Kosovski, M. C., Daar, R., & Hefner, V. (2007). Teasing among college men and women. Communication Studies, 58, 157–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Connor, K. M., Davidson, J. R. T., Churchill, E. L., Sherwood, A., Foa, E., Weisler, R. H. (2000). Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory: New self-rating scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 176, 379–386.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Connor, K. M., Kobak, K. A., Churchill, L. E., Katzelnick, D., & Davidson, J. R. (2001). Mini-SPIN: A brief screening assessment for generalized social anxiety disorder. Depression and Anxiety, 14, 137–140.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Davila, J., & Beck, J. G. (2002). Is social anxiety associated with impairment in close relationships? A preliminary investigation. Behavior Therapy, 33, 427–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Georgesen, J. C., Harris, M. J., Milich, R., & Young, J. (1999). “Just teasing”… Personality effects on perceptions and life narratives of childhood teasing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1254–1267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Gilbert, P., & Trower, P. (2001). Evolution and process in social anxiety. In W. R. Cozier & L. E. Alden (Eds.), International handbook of social anxiety: Concepts, research and interventions relating to the self and shyness (pp. 259–279). Chichester, UK: Wiley.Google Scholar
  17. Grills, A. E., & Ollendick, T. H. (2002). Peer victimization, global self-worth, and anxiety in middle-school children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 31, 59–68.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  18. Heinrichs, N., & Hofmann, S. G. (2001). Information processing in social phobia: A critical review. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 751–770.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Hofmann, S. G. (2007). Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 36, 195–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Hopper, R., Knapp, M. L., & Scott, L. (1981). Couples’ personal idioms: Exploring intimate talk. Journal of Communication, 31, 23–33.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Huppert, J. D., Foa, E. B., Furr, J. M., Filip, J. C., & Mathews, A. (2003). Interpretation bias in social anxiety: A dimensional perspective. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 569–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Jones, D. C., & Newman, J. B. (2005). A three-factor model of teasing: The influence of friendship, gender, and topic on expected emotional reactions to teasing during early adolescence. Social Development, 14, 421–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Kanai, Y., Sasagawa, S., Chen, J., Shimada, H., & Sakano, Y. (2010). Interpretation bias for ambiguous social behavior among individuals with high and low levels of social anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 229–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Keltner, D., Capps, L., Kring, A. M., Young, R. C., & Heerey, E. A. (2001). Just teasing: A conceptual analysis and empirical review. Psychology Bulletin, 127, 229–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Keltner, D., Young, R. C., Heerey, E. A., Oemig, C., & Monarch, N. D. (1998). Teasing in hierarchical and intimate relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1231–1247.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Kowalski, R. M. (2000). “I was only kidding”: Victims’ and perpetrators’ perceptions of teasing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 231–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Kowalski, R. M. (2003). Complaining, teasing, and other annoying behaviors. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
  28. Kowalski, R. M. (2004). Proneness to, perceptions of, and responses to teasing: The influence of both intrapersonal and interpersonal factors. European Journal of Personality, 18, 331–349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Lochner, C., Mogotsi, M., du Toit, P. L., Kaminer, D., Niehaus, D. J., & Stein, D. J. (2003). Quality of life in anxiety disorders: A comparison of obsessive–compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder. Psychopathology, 36, 255–262.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. McCabe, R. E., Antony, M. M., Summerfeldt, L. J., Liss, A., & Swinson, R. P. (2003). Preliminary examination of the relationship between anxiety disorders in adults and self-reported history of teasing or bullying experiences. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 32, 187–193.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. McCabe, R. E., Miller, J. L., Laugesen, N., Antony, M. M., & Young, L. (2010). The relationship between anxiety disorders in adults and recalled childhood teasing. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 238–243.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Meyer, J. C. (1997). Humor in member narratives: Uniting and dividing at work. Western Journal of Communication, 61, 188–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Mills, C. B., & Babrow, A. S. (2003). Teasing as a means of social influence. Southern Communication Journal, 68, 273–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Mills, C. B., & Carwile, A. M. (2009). The good, the bad, and the borderline: Separating teasing from bullying. Communication Education, 58, 276–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Oliver, R., Hoover, J. H., & Hazler, R. (1994). The perceived roles of bullying in small-town midwestern schools. Journal of Counseling and Development, 72, 416–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Olweus, D. (1997). Bully/victim problems in school: Facts and intervention. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 12, 495–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Pillow, B. H., & Anderson, K. L. (2006). Children’s awareness of their own certainty and understanding of deduction and guessing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 823–849.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Roth, D. A., Coles, M. E., & Heimberg, R. G. (2002). The relationship between memories for childhood teasing and anxiety and depression in adulthood. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 149–164.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Simmons, R. (2002). Odd girl out: The hidden culture of aggression in girls. New York, NY: Harcourt.Google Scholar
  41. Standage, H., Ashwin, C., & Fox, E. (2009). Comparing visual and auditory presentation for the modification of interpretation bias. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 40, 558–570.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Storch, E. A., Roth, D. A., Coles, M. E., Heimberg, R. G., Bravata, E. A., & Moser, J. (2004). The measurement and impact of childhood teasing in a sample of young adults. Anxiety Disorders, 18, 681–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Strawser, M. S., Storch, E. A., & Roberti, J. W. (2005). The Teasing Questionnaire—Revised: Measurement of childhood teasing in adults. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 780–792.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Voncken, M. J., Bogels, S. M., & Peeters, F. (2007). Specificity of interpretation and judgmental biases in social phobia versus depression. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 80, 443–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Wisco, B. E., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2010). Interpretation bias and depressive symptoms: The role of self-relevance. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 1113–1122.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PsychologyRyerson UniversityTorontoCanada

Personalised recommendations