ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of the empirical research on social and communicative anxiety. First, in laying the groundwork for their review, the authors show that there is considerable evidence that a variety of different scales of trait social and communicative anxiety are highly correlated and, consequently, appear to be measuring a common construct. In order to assess the relationships between social anxiety and various physiological, behavioral, and cognitive measures, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the empirical studies. The results of the meta-analysis indicate consistently large effects of social anxiety on a wide variety of cognitive and behavioral measures, but somewhat smaller effects on physiological measures of arousal. A substantive review of this literature supplements the meta-analysis, examining the links between social anxiety and specific physiological, behavioral, and cognitive reactions. Finally, the authors discuss contrasting theoretical explanations relating trait social anxiety, physiological arousal, behavior, and cognitive reactions to the experience of social anxiety.
