Blushing-Fearful Individuals' Judgmental Biases and Conditional Cognitions: An Internet Inquiry

J Psychopathol Behav Assess. 2010 Jun;32(2):264-270. doi: 10.1007/s10862-009-9134-4. Epub 2009 Apr 14.

Abstract

The present study examines two mechanisms that might explain why blushing-fearful individuals fear blushing: Judgmental biases for blushing in ordinary social situations that usually do not elicit a blush, and negative conditional cognitions about blushing irrespective of situation. A web-based self-report measure, linked to a German internet forum for people with fear of blushing, was completed by a group of high blushing-fearful participants (n = 155) and a low fear group (n = 61). Supporting the idea that cognitive biases are involved in fear of blushing, blushing-fearful participants showed inflated estimates of both the probability and the costs of blushing in these situations. In addition, blushing-fearful individuals were characterized by relatively negative conditional cognitions about blushing.