Avoids eye contact
Specifically, they have a tendency to exhibit something called safety-seeking behavior, which they believe will protect them from negative reactions from those around them. An example of this is speaking less so as not to attract attention. They also display avoidance behavior which means they avoid talking to others and making eye contact.
Likewise, they may choose their clothing based on a desire to appear understated in any way. Unfortunately, it is precisely because of this avoidance behavior that others consider them less likable and less authentic, which in fact only exacerbates the problem.
A comparison of people with and without social anxiety
To take a closer look at this phenomenon, the Canadian researchers, including doctoral student Greshma Dabbas at McMaster University, Ontario, recruited a total of 69 participants. 40 of them do not suffer from social anxiety but were simply taken from a psychology course at a major Canadian university. Another 29 participants were diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and received treatment for their problems.
First of all, all participants in the experiment filled out questionnaires reporting any phobias, safety-seeking behavior, and other related questions. Then each of them meets a person who was supposed to represent one of the other subjects, but was actually a kind of actor, who was instructed to start a dialogue with that subject.
Less authentic and sympathetic
Next, both the actor and the tester had to assess how the meeting went. This was also done with the help of questionnaires, in which the parties described their experience of how the social interaction progressed.
It was found that participants who had social anxiety were perceived by the actors as less likeable and genuine compared to those who did not have social anxiety. At the same time, people with social anxiety tended to view themselves as significantly less realistic than people without social anxiety.
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