Social anxiety and relationship development

Social anxiety and relationship development

Social anxiety is characterised by the fear of being judged negatively in social interactions or performance situations, which can lead to emotional distress and disrupt an individual's social functioning. Individuals with social anxiety have a fear of social situations that is so intense that they feel it is beyond their control. Social anxiety disorder usually begins in late childhood and may resemble extreme shyness or avoidance of situations or social interactions. Women are more likely to develop this condition than men, and this gender difference is more pronounced in adolescents and young adults. If left untreated, social anxiety can last for years, even a lifetime.

Communication style

Individuals who experience high levels of social anxiety may adopt a communication style that involves disclosing very little about themselves in situations where they fear negative evaluation. While this approach may seem like a protective measure, it often backfires, leading to the very negative perceptions they were trying to avoid. As a result, establishing close relationships can be difficult, as the process of moving from strangers to acquaintances to friends requires a certain degree of self-disclosure. In fact, a self-protective communication style can actually be a hindrance, limiting both the quantity and quality of relationships that socially anxious individuals are able to develop. Moreover, high levels of social anxiety have been associated with various dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, such as an inability to assert oneself and a tendency to suppress emotions. This can make it challenging for individuals to navigate conflicts in a healthy and productive manner, as they may struggle to communicate their needs and feelings effectively.

Friendships

"Adolescents who are socially anxious often find themselves with fewer friends, lower quality friendships, fewer interpersonal skills, and more negative peer experiences". Gender differences may play a role, as research suggests that the association between peer acceptance and social anxiety is stronger for girls, and that there are stronger links between social anxiety and friendship quality and quantity for girls as well. Interestingly, individuals with high levels of social anxiety may be more likely to self-disclose to others who also experience high levels of social anxiety, suggesting that friendships between individuals with similar levels of social anxiety can lead to more positive outcomes. Additionally, research has indicated that individuals with high levels of social anxiety often experience cognitive and behavioral uncertainty in the early stages of friendships, which can lead to lower self-efficacy and social performance expectations, making them unsure of how to behave in future interactions and potentially hindering their behavior in social situations. This could result in less positive affect, fewer verbalization which may lead to relationship deterioration over time and results in lower level of liking among friends. A study led by Hannesdo´ttir and Ollendick found that self-efficacy in social interaction was a better predictor of social anxiety than outcome expectations, indicating that confidence in one's abilities plays an important role in their anxiety about social situation.

Romantic relationships

Social anxiety has a similar impact on both platonic relationships and romantic relationships. The social skills learned through early friendships are often transferred to other peer relationships, including romantic relationships. Studies indicate that there is a developmental trajectory from same-sex friendships to other-sex friendships that aids in the development of heterosexual romantic relationships. Therefore, the quality of one's platonic relationships (both same-sex and other-sex) is predictive of their romantic relationship functioning. However, social anxiety can make it difficult to navigate peer relationships at each of these levels. On the first level, socially withdrawn adolescents are more likely to be excluded by their same-sex peers. The creation of mixed-sex peer groups is facilitated by same-sex peers, so rejection from same-sex peers means fewer opportunities to be involved with other-sex peers. Mixed-sex interactions provides opportunities to learn how to interact with other-sex peers and provide an avenue for meeting potential dating partners. This has negative implications for their romantic life like delayed or limited romantic experiences, or they go into a romantic relationship without having developed the necessary skills and/or without a social support system, which could have a negative effect on their relationship quality and functioning. Socially anxious youth that are sensitive to stressful peer experiences like rejection may also struggle with romantic activities which often expose people to potentially anxiety-provoking situations.

Perceived social support and satisfaction

Research suggests that depression may mediate the relationship between social anxiety and relationship satisfaction due to the high co-morbidity between social anxiety and depression. Depression is strongly associated with decreased relationship satisfaction. Studies have explored the relationship between social anxiety and relationship satisfaction while controlling for depression, with mixed results. One study noted that even after controlling for depression, people with social anxiety remained lower in intimate relationship satisfaction. Other studies have shown no significant association between social anxiety and relationship development after controlling for depression. Perceptions of social support may be lower in socially anxious individuals, which is related to their negative interpretive bias towards relationships.

Social support and social anxiety can be broadly categorized into three categories: received support, provided support, and desired support. Received support refers to the amount of support that a person receives from their partner or social network, while provided support refers to the amount of support that a person provides to their partner or social network. Desired support refers to the ideal amount of support that a person would like to receive from their partner or social network. Most research on this topic suggests that due to their negative interpretation bias of interpersonal relationships, socially anxious individuals tend to perceive less received support from their social network. In other words, they have a tendency to perceive their partner's behavior in a negative light, leading them to feel unsupported even when their partner is behaving in a supportive manner. This negative interpretation bias can exacerbate feelings of social anxiety and may contribute to lower levels of perceived support in social relationships. With women especially, higher levels of social anxiety is associated with reported lower received, desired, and provided support.