Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36494411›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2022

No evidence that gaze anxiety predicts gaze avoidance behavior during face-to-face social interaction.

Daniel Tönsing, Bastian Schiller, Antonia Vehlen, Ines Spenthof, Gregor Domes, Markus Heinrichs

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Daniel Tönsing *Laboratory for Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.
Bastian Schiller *Laboratory for Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany. schiller@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de.
Antonia VehlenDepartment of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
Ines SpenthofLaboratory for Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany.
Gregor DomesDepartment of Biological and Clinical Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany.
Markus HeinrichsLaboratory for Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Department of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 8, 79104, Freiburg, Germany. heinrichs@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de.
University of Freiburg · DEUniversität Trier · DE

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft 5310/5-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Eye contact is an indispensable social signal, yet for some individuals it is also a source of discomfort they fear and avoid. However, it is still unknown whether gaze anxiety actually produces avoidant gaze behavior in naturalistic, face-to-face interactions. Here, we relied on a novel dual eye-tracking setup that allows us to assess interactive gaze behavior. To investigate the effect of gaze anxiety on gaze behavior, we a priori created groups of participants reporting high or low levels of gaze anxiety. These participants (n = 51) then performed a semi-standardized interaction with a previously unknown individual reporting a medium level of gaze anxiety. The gaze behavior of both groups did not differ in either classical one-way, eye-tracking parameters (e.g. unilateral eye gaze), or interactive, two-way ones (e.g. mutual gaze). Furthermore, the subjective ratings of both participants' interaction did not differ between groups. Gaze anxious individuals seem to exhibit normal gaze behavior which does not hamper the perceived quality of interactions in a naturalistic face-to-face setup. Our findings point to the existence of cognitive distortions in gaze anxious individuals whose exterior behavior might be less affected than feared by their interior anxiety.

Indexed as

Avoidance LearningSocial InteractionAnxietyAnxiety DisordersFixation, OcularHumansSocial Behavior

Identifiers

PMID36494411
PMCPMC9734162
OpenAlexW4311672568

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.