Social Phobia & Embarrassability

All individuals are self-conscious on occasion (Disorder, 1993, p. 22). Some people, however, harbor an irrational fear that social performance is being carefully monitored and criticized by other persons all of the time. As a consequence, these individuals go to great lengths to avoid eating, drinking, speaking, or even writing in public.

The condition social phobia affects about two-percent of the population (Disorder, 1993, p. 22). The condition has tended to be ignored in the past because social phobics rarely seek help, and because the condition has been perceived largely as a behavior that will be outgrown. Accurate diagnosis and treatment are difficult because the disorder manifests itself in many ways. Some people fear simply using a public toilet, while others believe any interaction with strangers will lead to public ridicule. In addition, many people suffer more from secondary symptoms such as depression, suicide ideation, and agoraphobia.

No one knows for sure what sets off social phobia, but it may result

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ip with others, even without necessarily having close personal relationships with, knowing or having any material personal interest in their outcomes" (p. 3). To "the extent that the in-group is perceived as both different and better than the out-group, . . . one's social identity is enhanced" (p. 3). The process of categorization "produces the search for distinguishing features" (Abrams & Hogg, 1994, p. 3). The need by an individual for a positive identity motivates an effort to differentiate in favor of the in-group. The process of social comparison then is used to perform a selective accentuation of intergroup differences. Within the context of social identity theory, thus, self-concept reflects "a collection of self-images which vary in terms of the length of their establishment, complexity and richness of content" (p. 3). When "social identity is salient one acts as a group member, whereas when personal identity is salient, one does not (Abrams & Hogg, 1994, p. 4). Self-concept as a member of a social group, as opposed to interpersonal relationships "creates the uniformity and co-ordination of group behaviour" (p. 4). An important component of social identity theory, thus, is the incorporated "model of the psychology
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Abrams Hogg, Halberstadt Green, Danko Johnson, Risks DMS-III-R, SSP SP, Procedure Subjects, Sample Random, Leary Meadows, social phobia, Crozier Russell, Tajfel Wilkes, social identity, generalized social phobia, generalized social, social identity theory, identity theory, abrams hogg 1994, hogg 1994, abrams hogg, ssp respondents, individual embarrassment, patients generalized, respondents ssp respondents, disorder 1993, disorder 1993 22,
Approximate Word count = 2590
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)