Department of Psychology, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Germany.
Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2010 Oct;13(5):547-54. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2009.0432. Epub 2010 Apr 3.
In social interactions, interpersonal distance between interaction partners plays an important role in determining the status of the relationship. Interpersonal distance is an important nonverbal behavior, and is used to regulate personal space in a complex interplay with other nonverbal behaviors such as eye gaze. In social anxiety, studies regarding the impact of interpersonal distance on within-situation avoidance behavior are so far rare. Thus the present study aimed to scrutinize the relationship between gaze direction, sex, interpersonal distance, and social anxiety in social interactions. Social interactions were modeled in a virtual-reality (VR) environment, where 20 low and 19 high socially anxious women were confronted with approaching male and female characters, who stopped in front of the participant, either some distance away or close to them, and displayed either a direct or an averted gaze. Gaze and head movements, as well as heart rate, were measured as indices of avoidance behavior and fear reactions. High socially anxious participants showed a complex pattern of avoidance behavior: when the avatar was standing farther away, high socially anxious women avoided gaze contact with male avatars showing a direct gaze. Furthermore, they showed avoidance behavior (backward head movements) in response to male avatars showing a direct gaze, regardless of the interpersonal distance. Overall, the current study proved that VR social interactions might be a very useful tool for investigating avoidance behavior of socially anxious individuals in highly controlled situations. This might also be the first step in using VR social interactions in clinical protocols for the therapy of social anxiety disorder.
在社交互动中，互动伙伴之间的人际距离在确定关系的地位方面起着重要作用。人际距离是一种重要的非言语行为，与其他非言语行为（如目光接触）相互作用，共同调节个人空间。在社交焦虑中，关于人际距离对情境内回避行为影响的研究迄今为止还很少。因此，本研究旨在探讨社交互动中目光方向、性别、人际距离和社交焦虑之间的关系。社交互动是在虚拟现实 (VR) 环境中建模的，其中 20 名低社交焦虑和 19 名高社交焦虑的女性与走近的男性和女性角色进行互动，这些角色在参与者面前停下，距离参与者有些远或靠近他们，并显示直接或回避的目光。目光和头部运动以及心率被作为回避行为和恐惧反应的指标进行测量。高社交焦虑的参与者表现出一种复杂的回避行为模式：当虚拟人物站得更远时，高社交焦虑的女性会避免与男性虚拟人物进行目光接触，而这些男性虚拟人物则表现出直接的目光。此外，无论人际距离如何，他们都会对表现出直接目光的男性虚拟人物做出回避行为（向后的头部运动）。总的来说，本研究证明 VR 社交互动可能是一种非常有用的工具，可以在高度控制的情况下研究社交焦虑个体的回避行为。这也可能是在社交焦虑障碍的治疗中使用 VR 社交互动的临床方案的第一步。
