Self-focused attention vs. negative attentional bias during public speech task in socially anxious individuals

Enhanced self-focused attention (SFA) and negative attentional bias (NAB) towards social cues are characteristic hallmarks of social anxiety. It is essential to investigate these two attentional phenomena under socially relevant situations using comparable stimuli. In the present study, individuals with high social anxiety (HSA, n = 32) and low social anxiety (LSA, n = 29) were compared according to their attention toward self-related stimuli and toward positive, neutral, and negative feedback related stimuli. Video stimuli of moving indicators of self-anxiety-status and positive, neutral, and negative feedback from an audience were presented during an impromptu speech task (high anxiety condition) and a re-watching phase (low anxiety condition). Eye movements in response to the different stimuli served as readouts for attentional preference. An interaction effect suggested that the HSA group directed more attention to self-related stimuli relative to other stimuli and the LSA group only during the high anxiety condition. The LSA group exhibited a general attentional preference toward positive feedback, especially during the low anxiety condition. Meanwhile, only the total duration of fixation on positive feedback negatively correlated with subjective anxiety rating. Our results point to increased SFA rather than NAB in HSA individuals under social threats.