Self-Efficacy, Social Anxiety, and Inhibition in Interpersonal Encounters

Abstract

This paper presents a refinement of the self-presentational model of social anxiety that includes concepts borrowed from self-efficacy theory. Specifically, the distinction between self-efficacy and outcome expectancies is incorporated into the self-presentational approach, and literature is reviewed that demonstrates that people experience social anxiety when their self-presentational efficacy or outcome expectancies are low. In addition, the self-efficacy and self-presentation approaches are integrated to explain why people tend to become inhibited when they feel socially anxious, and implications of the two theories for the treatment of chronically socially anxious individuals are discussed.