Mediators of social rejection in social anxiety: Similarity, self-disclosure, and overt signs of anxiety

Three potential mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and social rejection were examined. Undergraduate women (N = 84) participated in a self-disclosure reciprocity task during which trained observers and experimental confederates rated subjects' anxiety-related behaviors, self-disclosure, and similarity to their partner. Partner acceptance or rejection of subjects was also assessed. Judgments of similarity mediated the social anxiety-social rejection relationship. Self disclosure and overt signs of anxiety served as cues on which others based their judgments of similarity. Overall, these results suggested that multiple processes influence the social rejection of socially anxious people. (C) 1998 Academic Press.