The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook
20UÊPeople will be angry with me if I make a mistake.
UÊI’ll make a fool of myself if I give a presentation.
UÊPeople can tell when I’m nervous.
UÊPeople ﬁnd me unattractive, boring, stupid, lazy, incompetent, weird, weak, 
and so on.
UÊPeople are untrustworthy, judgmental, and nasty.
UÊI should be able to hide my anxiety symptoms.
UÊIt’s awful to blush, shake, or sweat in front of others.
UÊIf my hands shake at work, it will be a disaster.
UÊAnxiety is a sign of weakness.
UÊI should not appear anxious in front of others.
UÊI won’t be able to speak if I’m too anxious.
Social Anxiety and Behavior
The most common behavioral response to feeling anxious or frightened is to either 
avoid the anxiety-provoking situation completely or to do something else to reduce the 
anxiety as quickly as possible. The reason people engage in these behaviors is because 
they are very effective at reducing discomfort— in the short term . However, in the long 
term, these behaviors have the effect of maintaining fear and anxiety in social situations 
because they prevent people from learning that their anxiety-provoking predictions are 
unlikely to come true. Following are some examples of behaviors that people often use to 
reduce their anxiety in social situations. Notice that some of these are examples involv -
ing complete escape or avoidance. However, other examples involve partial  avoidance, 
efforts to reduce anxiety, or attempts to protect oneself in the situation. These behaviors 
are often called safety behaviors , because they are carried out in an effort to feel safer in 
the feared situation: