AMes, Alyssa M

McGadney, Michael A

Voyles, Kristie M

English

ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University

TITLE: Associations between Empathy and Social Anxiety in Young Adults  AUTHORS: Kristie M. Voyles, Michael A. McGadney, & Alyssa M. Ames  FACULTY SPONSOR: Dr. Erin C. Tully, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology  Introduction: Internalizing disorders are incredibly burdensome afflictions, which often negatively impact interpersonal relationships (La Greca & Harrison, 2005). These disorders involve the reflection of distress inwards and include a range of disorders such as depression and anxiety (Bayer et al., 2011). Previous studies support associations between depression and  various aspects of empathic responding, such as being overly empathic, experiencing high levels of distress in response to interpersonal problems, and lacking interpersonal perspective-taking, (Batanova & Loukas, 2011; Cusi et al., 2010; Lee, 2009; Thoma et al., 2011) but very few studies have investigated the link between social anxiety and empathy.   Hypothesis: Based on the previous literature examining the link between depression and empathy and the high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety (de Jong et al., 2012; Thoma et al., 2011cite), we predicted higher levels of social anxiety symptoms would be associated with higher levels of empathic concern, personal distress, and lower levels of perspective-taking.  Method: Undergraduate psychology students (N=218; 76.7% female; 44.1% African-American, 24.3% Caucasian; Mage=19.69, SDage=1.90) completed one self-report measure of empathic concern, personal distress, and perspective-taking and one measuring depression and anxiety. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to test social anxiety as a predictor of the empathy constructs after accounting for age, gender, race, and depression.  Results: As hypothesized, increases in social anxiety symptoms predicted significantly higher levels of interpersonal personal distress. However, contrary to the hypotheses, social anxiety symptoms were not associated with empathic concern or perspective taking. These findings suggest that individuals afflicted with social anxiety become emotionally involved in the experience of others in a self-focused but not other-oriented way, perhaps at the expense of being cognitively and affectively connected with others.   Conclusion/Discussion: Although depression and anxiety are highly co-morbid and connected through a common underlying internalizing factor (Krueger, McGue, & Iacono, 2001), they differ in their association with two constructs of empathy. Thus, empathy and interpersonal factors may help distinguish these two disorders.    IRB Protocol Number: # H11242  

Associations between Empathy and Social Anxiety in Young Adults

Georgia State University

TITLE: Associations between Empathy and Social Anxiety in Young Adults 
 
AUTHORS: Kristie M. Voyles, Michael A. McGadney, & Alyssa M. Ames 
 
FACULTY SPONSOR: Dr. Erin C. Tully, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology 
 
Introduction: Internalizing disorders are incredibly burdensome afflictions, which often 
negatively impact interpersonal relationships (La Greca & Harrison, 2005). These disorders 
involve the reflection of distress inwards and include a range of disorders such as depression and 
anxiety (Bayer et al., 2011). Previous studies support associations between depression and  
various aspects of empathic responding, such as being overly empathic, experiencing high levels 
of distress in response to interpersonal problems, and lacking interpersonal perspective-taking, 
(Batanova & Loukas, 2011; Cusi et al., 2010; Lee, 2009; Thoma et al., 2011) but very few 
studies have investigated the link between social anxiety and empathy.  
 
Hypothesis: Based on the previous literature examining the link between depression and 
empathy and the high co-morbidity between depression and anxiety (de Jong et al., 2012; Thoma 
et al., 2011cite), we predicted higher levels of social anxiety symptoms would be associated with 
higher levels of empathic concern, personal distress, and lower levels of perspective-taking. 
 
Method: Undergraduate psychology students (N=218; 76.7% female; 44.1% African-American, 
24.3% Caucasian; Mage=19.69, SDage=1.90) completed one self-report measure of empathic 
concern, personal distress, and perspective-taking and one measuring depression and anxiety. 
Multiple linear regression analyses were used to test social anxiety as a predictor of the empathy 
constructs after accounting for age, gender, race, and depression. 
 
Results: As hypothesized, increases in social anxiety symptoms predicted significantly higher 
levels of interpersonal personal distress. However, contrary to the hypotheses, social anxiety 
symptoms were not associated with empathic concern or perspective taking. These findings 
suggest that individuals afflicted with social anxiety become emotionally involved in the 
experience of others in a self-focused but not other-oriented way, perhaps at the expense of being 
cognitively and affectively connected with others.  
 
Conclusion/Discussion: Although depression and anxiety are highly co-morbid and connected 
through a common underlying internalizing factor (Krueger, McGue, & Iacono, 2001), they 
differ in their association with two constructs of empathy. Thus, empathy and interpersonal 
factors may help distinguish these two disorders.   
 
IRB Protocol Number: # H11242 
 


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Associations between Empathy and Social Anxiety in Young Adults

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