Performance and interaction anxiety: specific relationships with other- and self-evaluation concerns

This study examines whether performance anxiety (PA) is specifically associated with other-evaluation concerns and interaction anxiety (IA) with self-evaluation concerns. Individuals with public speaking fears and high levels of PA or IA were distinguishable from nonanxious controls on measures taken during a public speaking challenge. In addition, high PA individuals exhibited more observer-rated negative speech characteristics in an Other-Evaluation condition compared to a Self-Evaluation condition, but high IA individuals and nonanxious individuals did not. These results provide some evidence for the distinctiveness of these dimensions of social anxiety.