The relationship between social comparison and submissive behaviors in people with social anxiety: Paranoid social cognition as the mediator.

Biased evaluation fears and paranoid thoughts lead to various safety behaviors that are the cardinal features and perpetuating factors of social anxiety. The present study aimed to emphasize evaluative and paranoid thoughts that predispose and maintain this growing psychological condition. A cross-sectional research design was employed to explore the relationship between social comparison, paranoid social cognitions, and submissive behaviors in patients with social anxiety. Furthermore, predictive effects of social comparison and paranoid ideation on submissiveness, along with mediating factors, were assessed in a clinical sample. The study sample consisted of 100 treatment-seeking female patients of social anxiety (M = 25.21 years), recruited through purposive sampling. The findings revealed significant correlations between social comparison, paranoid social cognitions, and submissive behaviors. Rank, a subscale of social comparison, and paranoid social cognitions turned out as predictive factors of submissive behaviors. A novel finding is that paranoid social cognitions mediate the relationship between social comparison and submissive behaviors in socially anxious individuals. Study results will assist clinicians to devise effective management plans for patients by comprehending possible causes of submissiveness and considering paranoid ideation as a manifestation of social anxiety.