Tall trees catch much wind: Fear of positive evaluation in social anxiety

Abstract

<p id="p00005">Fear of positive evaluation (FPE) is a key trait to effectively distinguish social anxiety from depressive symptom. It is defined as an emotional response involving fear of and distress about positive evaluation from others. Its role of social anxiety manifests in that it leads individuals with social anxiety to deny the positive evaluation, avoid attention from others, and be in negative mood by themselves. Furthermore, it aggravates individual's cognitive bias, and suppress positive emotions through Disqualification of Positive Social Outcomes (DPSO) and the Interpretation Bias (IB), thereby maintaining and exacerbating the symptoms relating to social anxiety. Future research not only should more consider the application of FPE in education and consultation, but also should pay more attention to its special characters in Chinese modest culture background.