Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

An Initial Investigation of the Use of Comparative Referents to Assess Social Anxiety

Published Online:August 03, 2016https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000349

Abstract

Abstract. The current study examined the validity of two self-report measures of social anxiety constructed using social comparative referent points. It was hypothesized that these comparison measures would be both reliable and valid. Results indicated that two different comparative versions – one invoking injunctive norms and another invoking descriptive norms – showed good reliability, excellent internal consistency, and acceptable convergent and discriminant validity. The comparative measures also predicted positive functioning, some aspects of social quality of life, and social anxiety as measured by an independent self-report. These findings suggest that adding a comparative reference point to instructions on social anxiety measures may aid in the assessment of social anxiety.

References

  • Achenbach, T. M., Krukowski, R. A., Dumenci, L. & Ivanova, M. Y. (2005). Assessment of adult psychopathology: Meta-analyses and implications of cross-informant correlations. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 361–382. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.3.361 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baker, S. L., Heinrichs, N., Kim, H.-J. & Hofmann, S. G. (2002). The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale as a self-report instrument: A preliminary psychometric analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 701–715. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7967(01)00060-2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G. & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893–897. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • 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. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7894(89)80060-7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brown, T. A., Chorpita, B. F. & Barlow, D. H. (1998). Structural relationships among dimensions of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders and dimensions of negative affect, positive affect, and autonomic arousal. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 179–192. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.107.2.179 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cialdini, R. B. & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. In D. T. GilbertS. T. FiskeG. LindzeyEds., The handbook of social psychology (Vols. 1 and 2, pp. 151–192) (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Dell’Osso, L., Abelli, M., Pini, S., Carlini, M., Carpita, B., Macchi, E., … Massimetti, G. (2014). Dimensional assessment of DSM-5 social anxiety symptoms among university students and its relationship with functional impairment. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 10, 1325–1332. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Fagerlin, A., Zikmund-Fisher, B. J. & Ubel, P. A. (2007). “If I’m better than average, then I’m ok?” Comparative information influences beliefs about risk and benefits. Patient Education and Counseling, 69, 140–144. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2007.08.008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140. doi: 10.1177/001872675400700202 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fresco, D. M., Coles, M. E., Heimberg, R. G., Leibowitz, M. R., Hami, S., Stein, M. B. & Goetz, D. (2001). The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale: A comparison of the psychometric properties of self-report and clinician-administered formats. Psychological Medicine, 31, 1025–1035. doi: 10.1017/S0033291701004056 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Frisch, M. B. (1994). Quality of life inventory manual and treatment guide. Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson and Pearson Assessments. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Goffin, R. D. & Olson, J. M. (2011). Is it all relative? Comparative judgments and the possible improvement of self-ratings and ratings of others. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 48–60. doi: 10.1177/1745691610393521 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Heinrichs, N. & Hofmann, S. G. (2005). Cognitive assessment of social anxiety: A comparison of self-report and thought listing methods. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 34, 3–15. doi: 10.1080/16506070410030106 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Klein, W. M. P. (1997). Objective standards are not enough: Affective, self-evaluative, and behavioral responses to social comparison information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 763–774. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.72.4.763 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Klein, W. M. P. (2002). Comparative risk estimates relative to the average peer predict behavioral intentions and concern about absolute risk. Risk, Decision & Policy, 7, 193–202. doi: 10.1017/S1357530902000613 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Liebowitz, M. R. (1987). Social phobia. Modern Problems of Pharmacopsychiatry, 22, 141–173. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Melrose, K. L., Brown, G. D. A. & Wood, A. M. (2013). Am I abnormal? Relative rank and social norm effects in judgments of anxiety and depression symptom severity. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 26, 174–184. doi: 10.1002/bdm.1754 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Mendlowicz, M. V. & Stein, M. B. (2000). Quality of life in individuals with anxiety disorders. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 669–682. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Moore, D. A. (2007). Not so above average after all: When people believe they are worse than average and its implications for theories of bias in social comparison. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102, 42–58. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.005 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Muntingh, A. D., van der Feltz-Cornelis, C. M., van Marwijk, H. W., Spinhoven, P., Penninx, B. W. & van Balkom, A. J. (2011). Is the Beck Anxiety Inventory a good tool to assess the severity of anxiety? A primary care study in the Netherlands study of depression and anxiety (NESDA) BMC Family Practice, 12, 1–6. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Olson, J. M., Goffin, R. D. & Haynes, G. A. (2007). Relative versus absolute measures of explicit attitudes: Implications for predicting diverse attitude-relevant criteria. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 907–926. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.907 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Raghunathan, T. E., Rosenthal, R. & Rubin, D. B. (1996). Comparing correlated but nonoverlapping correlations. Psychological Methods, 1, 178–183. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X.1.2.178 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rose, J. P. (2010). Are direct or indirect measures of comparative risk better predictors of concern and behavioural intentions? Psychology & Health, 25, 149–165. doi: 10.1080/08870440802340164 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rytwinski, N. K., Fresco, D. M., Heimberg, R. G., Coles, M. E., Liebowitz, M. R., Cissell, S., … Hofmann, S. G. (2009). Screening for social anxiety disorder with the self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Depression and Anxiety, 26, 34–38. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sackett, P. R., Laczo, R. M. & Arvey, R. D. (2002). The effects of range restriction on estimates of criterion interrater reliability: Implications for validation research. Personnel Psychology, 55, 807–825. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2002.tb00130.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Safren, S. A., Heimberg, R. G., Brown, E. J. & Holle, C. (1996). Quality of life in social phobia. Depression and Anxiety, 4, 126–133. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6394(1996)4:3<126::AID-DA5>3.0.CO;2-E First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schwarz, N. & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In D. KahnemanE. DienerN. SchwarzEds., Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Seligman, L. D. & Ollendick, T. H. (1998). Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents: An integrative review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1, 125–144. doi: 10.1023/A:1021887712873 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Suls, J. & Wheeler, L. (2000). Handbook of social comparison: Theory and research. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A. & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Watson, D., O’Hara, M. W., Simms, L. J., Kotov, R., Chmielewski, M., McDade-Montez, E. A., … Stuart, S. (2007). Development and validation of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS). Psychological Assessment, 19, 253–268. doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.19.3.253 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wood, J. V. (1989). Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. Psychological Bulletin, 106, 231–248. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.106.2.231 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar