Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Shari Steinman

Committee Member

Cheryl B. McNeil

Committee Member

Claire St. Peter

Abstract

Social anxiety is a common experience that ranges from mild, temporary distress to excessive, persistent, and impairing fear. The current study tested whether perfectionism is causally related to social anxiety symptoms and post-event processing using a contract-based manipulation to shift perfectionism. Participants (N = 67) completed measures of social anxiety and perfectionism prior to delivering a speech. Next, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 contract conditions: High Personal Standards (High PS), High Personal Standards with Evaluative Concerns (High PS+EC), and Low Personal Standards (Low PS). The following day, participants completed the measures of social anxiety and perfectionism again, as well as a questionnaire on post-event processing related to the speech. In line with hypotheses, results suggest that the contract manipulation significantly altered perfectionism, such that participants in the High PS+EC condition (but not the other two conditions) had an increase in perfectionism over time. Contrary to expectations, the contract manipulation did not affect social anxiety symptoms or post-event processing. Results suggest that focusing on evaluation concerns, rather than personal standards alone, may cause perfectionism. It is possible that a stronger manipulation, or a larger dose of the manipulation, is needed to see effects on social anxiety symptoms.

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