A contextual approach to experiential avoidance and social anxiety: Evidence from an experimental interaction and daily interactions of people with social anxiety disorder.

Kashdan, Todd B.; Goodman, Fallon R.; Machell, Kyla A.; Kleiman, Evan M.; Monfort, Samuel S.; Ciarrochi, Joseph; Nezlek, John B.

doi:10.1037/a0035935

Cited by 187Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMindfulness and Compassion InterventionsDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

A contextual approach to experiential avoidance and social anxiety: Evidence from an experimental interaction and daily interactions of people with social anxiety disorder.

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Kashdan, Todd B., Goodman, Fallon R., Machell, Kyla A., Kleiman, Evan M., Monfort, Samuel S., Ciarrochi, Joseph, Nezlek, John B.·2014·Emotion

DOI 10.1037/a0035935PMC PMC4191827

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Abstract

Experiential avoidance (EA), the tendency to avoid internal, unwanted thoughts and feelings, is hypothesized to be a risk factor for social anxiety. Existing studies of experiential avoidance rely on trait measures with minimal contextual consideration. In two studies, we examined the association between experiential avoidance and anxiety within real-world social interactions. In the first study, we examined the effect of experiential avoidance on social anxiety in everyday life. For 2 weeks, 37 participants with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and 38 healthy controls provided reports of experiential avoidance and social anxiety symptoms during face-to-face social interactions. Results showed that momentary experiential avoidance was positively related to anxiety symptoms during social interactions and this effect was stronger among people with SAD. People low in EA showed greater sensitivity to the level of situational threat than high EA people. In the second study, we facilitated an initial encounter between strangers. Unlike Study 1, we experimentally created a social situation where there was either an opportunity for intimacy (self-disclosure conversation) or no such opportunity (small-talk conversation). Results showed that greater experiential avoidance during the self-disclosure conversation temporally preceded increases in social anxiety for the remainder of the interaction; no such effect was found in the small-talk conversation. Our findings provide insight into the association between experiential avoidance on social anxiety in laboratory and naturalistic settings, and demonstrate that the effect of EA depends upon level of social threat and opportunity.

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Experiential avoidance is a mechanism that can be changed through intervention.
“EA is a mechanism malleable to intervention (Kashdan et al., 2014).”
From Evaluating Experiential Avoidance in terms of COVID-19 Fear and Pandemic Emotional Distress Symptoms Among Latinx Adults (2022) · cites this paper as Kashdan et al., 2014
The Study 2 Discussion reports reasonable evidence that experiential avoidance causally influences social anxiety, and the General Discussion says its use is influenced by situational factors. But the paper does not report an intervention that changes experiential avoidance or establish that it is malleable through treatment. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
In non-clinical adolescent samples, experiential avoidance is positively correlated with social anxiety.
“Regarding adolescents’ social anxiety difficulties, existing research with non-clinical samples has also demonstrated that experiential avoidance is positively correlated with social anxiety (Kashdan et al., 2014; Papachristou et al., 2018; Shimoda et al., 2018), as well as cognitive fusion (Cheng et al., 2021).”
From Psychological inflexibility explains social anxiety over time: a mediation analyses with a clinical adolescent sample (2024) · cites this paper as Kashdan et al., 2014
The Abstract reports a positive association between momentary experiential avoidance and social anxiety, and the General Discussion identifies Study 2 as non-clinical. However, Study 2’s Method describes undergraduates aged 18–49 (mean 22.11), not an adolescent sample. Its reported effect was also specific to the self-disclosure conversation, with no such effect in the small-talk condition. (LLM, conf=0.91)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Experiential avoidance has been identified as one potential mechanism driving SAD.
“Experiential avoidance, or EA, has been identified as one potential mechanism driving SAD (Glick & Orsillo, 2011;Kashdan et al., 2006Kashdan et al., , 2014)).”
From Evaluating Mechanisms: Mapping Weekly Dynamics between Experiential Avoidance and SAD Symptoms (2021) · cites this paper as Kashdan et al., 2014
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Kashdan et al. (2014) provided an excellent example of using a contextual approach to assess experiential avoidance.
“Kashdan et al. (2014) provided an excellent example of using a contextual approach to assess experiential avoidance.”
From Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes and Mediation: Challenges and How to Address Them (2023) · cites this paper as Kashdan et al., 2014
Kashdan et al. (2014) found that EA significantly predicted higher social anxiety in social situations with greater chance of being vulnerable and negatively evaluated compared with situations where self-disclosure was minimized.
“Kashdan et al. (2014) also found context to be important, as EA significantly predicted higher social anxiety in social situations where there was a greater chance of being vulnerable and negatively evaluated by others compared with social situations where personal self-disclosure was minimized.”
From Anxiety Sensitivity, Experiential Avoidance, and Mindfulness Among Younger and Older Adults: Age Differences in Risk Factors for Anxiety Symptoms (2015) · cites this paper as Kashdan et al. (2014)

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Background
Social anxiety and emotion regulation flexibility: considering emotion intensity and type as contextual factors
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Impact of social anxiety and social context on college students’ emotion regulation strategy use: An experience sampling study
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Goodman, F. R., Daniel, K. E., Eldesouky, L., Brown, B. A., & Kneeland, E. T. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100210 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
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Are people with social anxiety disorder happier alone?
Goodman, F. R., Rum, R., Silva, G., & Kashdan, T. B. (2021) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102474 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
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“Second, experiential avoidance is positively correlated with social anxiety in adolescents (Kashdan et al., 2014; Papachristou et al., 2018; Shimoda et al., 2018).”
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Evaluating the Indirect Effects of Trait Mindfulness Facets on State Tripartite Components Through State Rumination and State Experiential Avoidance
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Authors: Kashdan, T. B., Goodman, F. R., Machell, K. A., Kleiman, E. M., Monfort, S. S., Ciarrochi, J., & Nezlek, J. B.
Affiliations: George Mason University (US)
Australian Catholic University (AU)
William & Mary (US)
ORCID: Kashdan, Todd B.
Goodman, Fallon R.
Kleiman, Evan M.
Monfort, Samuel S.
Ciarrochi, Joseph
Nezlek, John B.
Venue: Emotion
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 2014-08
Volume: 14
Issue: 4
Pages: 769-781
ISSN: 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
1931-1516
DOI: 10.1037/a0035935
PMC: PMC4191827
OpenAlex: W2102502640
Semantic Scholar: 0144f69c97478c7cf5e6e20b9d23b994265373e8
Cited by: 187
References: 77
Citations by year: 2026: 15 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7
FWCI: 16.70
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Locations: Emotion (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
W&M Publish (College of William & Mary) (submittedVersion)
Funders: National Institute of Mental Health (R21-MH073937)
George Mason University
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
Keywords: experiential avoidance, social anxiety disorder, social anxiety, social danger, self-disclosure, small talk, social interaction, everyday life, contextual factors, risk factors for anxiety
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Adult, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Phobic Disorders, Social Behavior, Social Control, Informal, Case-Control Studies, Young Adult

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A contextual approach to experiential avoidance and social anxiety: Evidence from an experimental interaction and daily interactions of people with social anxiety disorder.

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