Abstract
Interpretation bias, the tendency to interpret ambiguous situations in a positive or negative fashion, has been implicated in the maintenance of social anxiety. To examine this hypothesis, off-line interpretations of ambiguous social and nonsocial situations were examined separately for positive and negative bias in a sample of 102 participants who represented a continuum of social anxiety ranging from low to high anxiety. A modest correlation was found between positive and negative social interpretation biases suggesting that negative and positive interpretation bias do not lie on opposite ends of a single continuum. Negative interpretation bias for social situations was positively related to social anxiety, but not to general negative affect. In contrast, positive social interpretation bias was negatively related to general negative affect, and to a lesser extent, to social anxiety. We discuss the implication of these findings for the methodology and interpretations of previous findings as well as for general theories of social anxiety and its disorders.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amir, N., Foa, E. B., & Coles, M. (1998). Negative interpretation bias in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(10), 945-957.
Beck, A. T., & Emery, G. (1985). Anxiety disorders and phobias: A cognitive perspective. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. (1990). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Beidel, D. C., Turner, S. M., Stanley, M. A., & Dancu, C. V. (1989). The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory: Concurrent and external validity. Behavior Therapy, 20, 417-427.
Butler, G., & Mathews, A. (1983). Cognitive processes in anxiety. Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy, 5, 51-62.
Clark, D. M. (1999). Anxiety disorders: Why they persist and how to treat them. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, S5-S27.
Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. G. Heimberg, M. R. Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment(pp. 69-93). New York: Guilford.
Constans, J. I., Penn, D. L., Ihen, G. H., & Hope, D. A. (1999). Interpretive biases for ambiguous stimuli in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 643-651.
de Jong, P. J., Pasman, W., Kindt, M., & van den Hout, M. A. (2001). A reaction time paradigm to assess (implicit) complaint-specific dysfunctional beliefs. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 101-113.
Eysenck, M. W., Mogg, K., May, J., Richards, A., & Mathews, A. (1991). Bias in interpretation of ambiguous sentences related to threat in anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100(2), 144-150.
Foa, E. B., Franklin, M. E., Perry, K. J., & Herbert, J. D. (1996). Cognitive biases in generalized social phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 433-439.
Hirsch, C., & Mathews, A. (1997). Interpretative inferences when reading about emotional events. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 1123-1132.
Hirsch, C., & Mathews, A. (2000). Impaired positive inferential bias in social phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 705-712.
Lawson, C., MacLeod, C., & Hammond, G. (2002). Interpretation revealed in the blink of an eye: Depressive bias in the resolution of ambiguity. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 321-328.
Mathews, A., & Mackintosh, B. (2000). Induced emotional interpretation bias and anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 602-615.
Osman, A., Barrios, F. X., Aukes, D., & Osman, J. R. (1995). Psychometric evaluation of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory in college students. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 235-243.
Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behavior Research and Therapy, 35, 741-756.
Ries, B. J., McNeil, D. W., Boone, M. L., Turk, C. L., Carter, L. E., & Heimberg, R. G. (1998). Assessment of contemporary social phobia verbal report instruments. Behavior Research and Therapy, 36, 983-994.
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologist Press.
Stopa, L., & Clark, D. M. (2000). Social phobia and interpretation of social events. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 273-283.
Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C., Dancu, C. V., & Stanley, M. A. (1989). An empirically derived inventory to measure social fears and anxiety: The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 1, 35-40.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huppert, J.D., Foa, E.B., Furr, J.M. et al. Interpretation Bias in Social Anxiety: A Dimensional Perspective. Cognitive Therapy and Research 27, 569–577 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026359105456
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026359105456