Relationships between core-beliefs, bivalent fear of evaluation, and social anxiety symptoms: a structural equation model

Abstract

Objective: It is increasingly recognised that social anxiety is underpinned by a bivalent fear of evaluation. The present study tested how well a core-beliefs measure developed for social anxiety was accounted for within this bivalent model. It was hypothesised that bivalent fear of evaluation would predict more variance in social anxiety symptoms than negative alone, and that known core beliefs would predict fear of negative more than fear of positive evaluation. Method: An online survey was completed by 346 undergraduates who were recruited in exchange for course credit, through a targeted strategy that ensured that they experienced social anxiety symptoms. The survey was completed on Qual..