Social anxiety and work: a qualitative investigation in a low-income, minority sample
Open accessAbstract
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with employment problems. However, understanding of mechanisms through which SAD impacts employment is limited, and few studies examine employment experiences among racial minorities and economically disadvantaged individuals with SAD. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 unemployed individuals with SAD. Participants described interactions between feelings of social anxiety and anger, in addition to more typical SAD symptoms. Participants also perceived negative judgments from employers based on socio-economic status, appearance, and criminal histories. Participants reported using a range of coping strategies for social anxiety. Clinical implications related to the interplay between poverty, unemployment, and SAD are discussed.
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Socially anxious individuals often limit job searches to positions that do not require extended social interactions.
“First, socially anxious individuals often limit job searches to positions that do not require extended social interactions”
From Work-Related Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for racially and economically diverse unemployed persons with social anxiety: A randomized clinical trial (2024) · cites this paper as Himle et al., 2020
The Results (Avoidance; page unavailable) describe respondents avoiding interviews, networking, and follow-up during job searches; one preferred temporary-agency work because it bypassed an interview. They do not establish that socially anxious people often restrict their searches to jobs with little sustained social interaction. The study also concerns a specific low-income sample, rather than socially anxious individuals generally. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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- Authors
- Himle, J. A., Weaver, A., Levine, D. S., Steinberger, E., Bybee, D., Vlnka, S., Miller, R., Laviolette, W. T., & Nicoll, K. L.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- JVS Human Services, Detroit, USA
- Michigan State University (US)
- Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (US)
- Corresponding author
- Himle, Joseph A.
- Venue
- Social Work in Mental Health
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-03-30
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 302-330
- ISSN
- 1533-2985 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-2993
- PMC
- PMC12312657
- OpenAlex
- W3014972446
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 0.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Social Work in Mental Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R34MH083031)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- social anxiety disorder, unemployment, employment, racial minorities, low-income adults, poverty, anger, employer discrimination, socioeconomic status, coping strategies, criminal history, appearance, mental health stigma
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