University of Amsterdam.
Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Child Dev. 2019 Jul;90(4):1424-1441. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13248. Epub 2019 May 16.
Why are some children more socially anxious than others? One theory holds that socially anxious children are poor mindreaders, which hampers their social interactions; another that socially anxious children are advanced mindreaders leading to heightened self-consciousness in social situations. To test these theories simultaneously, this study (N = 105, ages 8-12) assessed children's mindreading (accuracy in detecting mental states from the eye region), self-consciousness (indexed as physiological blushing during public performance), and social anxiety levels. Results support both theories, showing a quadratic relation between mindreading and social anxiety. Low mindreading was related to clinical levels of social anxiety. High mindreading was related to subclinical levels of social anxiety through blushing. Our findings suggest two social-cognitive pathways to heightened social anxiety.
为什么有些孩子比其他孩子更社交焦虑？一种理论认为，社交焦虑的孩子是糟糕的心理解读者，这阻碍了他们的社交互动；另一种理论则认为，社交焦虑的孩子是高级的心理解读者，这导致他们在社交场合中更加自我意识。为了同时检验这些理论，本研究（N=105，年龄 8-12 岁）评估了儿童的心理解读能力（从眼部区域准确识别心理状态的能力）、自我意识（在公开表演时的生理脸红程度）和社交焦虑水平。结果支持了这两种理论，表明心理解读和社交焦虑之间存在二次关系。低心理解读能力与临床水平的社交焦虑有关。高心理解读能力则通过脸红与亚临床水平的社交焦虑有关。我们的发现表明，有两种社交认知途径会导致社交焦虑加剧。
