The effects of self-compassion on avoidant behaviours among individuals with social anxiety
| dc.contributor.author | Brais, Nicolas | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Thuele, Jen (Psychology) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Schellenberg, Ben (Kinesiology and Recreation Management) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Bailis, Daniel (Psychology) Johnson, Edward (Psychology) | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-09-01T19:49:30Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-09-01T19:49:30Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2020-08-24 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-08 | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | 2020-08-24T22:12:32Z | en_US |
| dc.degree.discipline | Psychology | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Arts (M.A.) | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Current cognitive-behavioural models posit that fear of evaluation (FOE) is a key factor in maintaining avoidance behaviours and social anxiety. Certain facets of self-compassion (SC) -treating oneself with kindness and understanding in difficult times – suggest that it may be one potentially useful strategy to decrease FOE and subsequent avoidance and social anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of FOE on avoidance behaviours and social anxiety within a socially anxious population. A total of 110 undergraduates, who scored high on a social anxiety measure, completed all phases of the study. Phase one consisted of baseline measures of avoidance behaviours, social anxiety, SC, self-esteem, and FOE. Participants were randomly assigned to write about a socially anxiety-provoking situation, either self-compassionately, expressively or neutrally, and to explain how their written response may help them in similar situations or assigned to a non-writing control condition. Participants completed the writing task three times in one week, completing final measures of FOE at the end of Time 3. In Phase two (two weeks after completing Time 3), participants completed a survey with measures of avoidance behaviours, SC and social anxiety. Hierarchical regression analyses did not find any significant effect of experimental conditions on SC, avoidance behaviours or social anxiety. All three writing conditions effectively decreased state and trait fear of negative evaluation, with neutral writing (i.e., describing a route to school) being the most effective and expressive writing being least effective. Fear of negative evaluation did not mediate the association between writing condition and avoidance, but partially mediated the association between self-compassion vs. expressive writing and social anxiety. Implications and future research directions are discussed. | en_US |
| dc.description.note | October 2020 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | APA | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/34931 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | Self-compassion | en_US |
| dc.subject | Social Anxiety | en_US |
| dc.subject | Avoidance | en_US |
| dc.subject | Fear of Evaluation | en_US |
| dc.title | The effects of self-compassion on avoidant behaviours among individuals with social anxiety | en_US |
| dc.type | master thesis | en_US |