Social Anxiety and Preferred Interpersonal Distance: The Role of Estimation Bias

The aim of this study was to examine the association between social anxiety (SA) and subtle avoidance behaviours such as a preference for greater interpersonal distance, reduced approach speed, and whether this association is moderated by one’s tendency to underestimate the actual distance (estimation bias). A sample of 106 male and female participants with varying degrees of SA approached a group of virtual agents in an immersive virtual reality bar-like setting. Preferred distance was assessed implicitly, by measuring how close participants would approach the agents when completing a task. Later, preferred distance was measured explicitly when participants were asked to choose a distance that they found comfortable when interacting with a group, and afterwards, to estimate the distance they kept from the group. In addition, approach speed was assessed. The results revealed that there was no relationship between SA and approach speed nor with implicit and explicit measures of interpersonal distance. However, a tendency to underestimate the distance from others was related to keeping a greater distance, when measured explicitly, suggesting that estimation bias predicts a greater interpersonal distance. Further, the relationship between SA and interpersonal distance was moderated by estimation bias. High SA only predicted greater interpersonal distance when participants underestimated the actual distance they had kept. This suggests that individuals with high SA do not keep greater interpersonal distance per se but only do so when they tend to judge the distance to others as very close. Theoretical as well as practical implications and future directions are discussed.