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Effects of fear of negative social

evaluation in interaction with potential
partners: experimental study of
first encounters / Efectos del temor
a la evaluacin social negativa en
interaccin con parejas potenciales:
estudio experimental de los primeros
encuentros
a
Christian-Enrique Cruz-Torres , Rolando Daz-Loving , Joaquina
Alberto Padilla-Bautista , Paola-Eunice Daz-Rivera , Ilse

a
Gonzlez-Rivera & Rebecca-Esther Oropeza-Lozano
Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico

Published online: 30 Jan 2015.
To cite this article: Christian-Enrique Cruz-Torres, Rolando Daz-Loving, Joaquin-Alberto PadillaBautista, Paola-Eunice Daz-Rivera, Ilse Gonzlez-Rivera & Rebecca-Esther Oropeza-Lozano (2015)
Effects of fear of negative social evaluation in interaction with potential partners: experimental
study of first encounters / Efectos del temor a la evaluacin social negativa en interaccin con
parejas potenciales: estudio experimental de los primeros encuentros, Revista de Psicologa Social:
International Journal of Social Psychology, 30:1, 1-30, DOI: 10.1080/02134748.2014.987502
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Revista de Psicologa Social / International Journal of Social Psychology, 2015

Vol. 30, No. 1, 130, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02134748.2014.987502
Effects of fear of negative social evaluation in interaction with

potential partners: experimental study of first encounters /
Efectos del temor a la evaluacin social negativa en interaccin
con parejas potenciales: estudio experimental de los
primeros encuentros
Christian-Enrique Cruz-Torres, Rolando Daz-Loving,
Joaquin-Alberto Padilla-Bautista, Paola-Eunice Daz-Rivera,
Ilse Gonzlez-Rivera, and Rebecca-Esther Oropeza-Lozano
Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico
(Received 28 June 2013; accepted 10 December 2013)
Abstract: This study used an experimental procedure to evaluate the effects
of fear of negative social evaluation (FNSE) on courtship strategies and the
ability to interact with the opposite sex. 108 university students participated in
this study with a mean age of 19.6. Prior to the experimental procedure, FNSE
levels were measured. Then two photographs of people of the opposite sex
were shown, one more attractive than the other, and the participants were
informed that they would meet one of them. Levels of anxiety and selfpresentation motivation (SPM) were measured before the planned interaction.
Results show that people with low levels of FNSE have positive expectations
of reciprocity when they are about to meet a person that they find attractive.
Women, but not men, with high levels of FNSE report higher SPM with less
attractive people than with more attractive people. High levels of FNSE are
associated with a loss of calm in the situation of meeting a person of the
opposite sex. Implications of these results are discussed in the context of
courtship strategies.
Keywords: anxiety; courtship; self presentation; mating strategies; fear of
negative social evaluation
Resumen: El presente estudio evala en un procedimiento experimental los
efectos del temor a la evaluacin social negativa (TESN) sobre las estrategias
de emparejamiento ante la posibilidad de interactuar con alguien del sexo
opuesto. Participaron 108 personas, con una edad promedio de 19.6 aos.
Previo al procedimiento experimental se evaluaban niveles de TESN, despus
se presentaban dos fotografas de personas del sexo opuesto, una ms
English version: pp. 114 / Versin en espaol: pp. 1528
References / Referencias: pp. 2830
Translated from Spanish / Traduccin del espaol: Mary Black
Authors Address / Correspondencia con los autores: Christian Enrique Cruz-Torres,
Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico, Facultad de Psicologa, Av. Universidad
3004, Edificio D, cubculo 8 piso Mezannine, Col. Copilco Universidad, Delegacin
Coyoacn, C.P. 04510, Mxico. Email: cassiel.79@gmail.com
2014 Fundacion Infancia y Aprendizaje
C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.
atractiva que la otra, y se les informaba que conoceran a una de ellas. Se

medan niveles de ansiedad estado y motivacin de autopresentacin, antes de
la supuesta interaccin. Los resultados muestran que personas con niveles
bajos de TESN tienen expectativas positivas de reciprocidad al conocer a una
persona que les atrae. Las mujeres, con altos niveles de TESN reportan una
mayor motivacin de autopresentacin con personas menos atractivas que con
personas ms atractivas. Niveles altos de TESN se asocian con una prdida de
la tranquilidad ante la situacin de conocer a alguien del sexo opuesto. Se
discuten los resultados en el contexto de las estrategias de emparejamiento.
Palabras clave: ansiedad; cortejo; emparejamiento; auto presentacin; temor
a la evaluacin social negativa
Forms of interaction in the quest for a partner have not always existed the way
they do today. Prior to the 1920s, the members of the couple did not always make
the choice of their sentimental partner; instead, the heads of family took these
decisions. The purpose of forming these couples was to meet the families
political, social and economic needs, not to satisfy individual needs
(Coontz, 2004, 2005).
Later, a system of dating began with the fundamental idea of basing the formation of couples on attraction and falling in love (Bredow, Cate, & Huston, 2008).
Thus, individuals mainly chose their own partners. A third stage in the formation of
couples emerged with the advent of birth control pills. Based on this milestone, sex
outside of wedlock or committed relationships began to be more common. Socially
controlled places like courting dates with several family members lost importance to
others like public places and even the internet, where there are clearly fewer
requirements for embarking upon a relationship (Bozon & Rault, 2012).
Bredow et al. (2008) suggest a model that describes the dynamic of first
encounters in which the stages that underlie the formation of couples are: (a)
the connection between the attributes that one partner is seeking and the attributes
that the other partner has, which sparks an initial attraction between them; (b) the
decision to make a declaration of intentions; (c) the self-presentation strategy; and
(d) the construction of a good initial connection (chemistry?).
The first of these stages entails an evaluation of the attributes sought in the
potential partner. Initial attraction emerges as the outcome of a match between the
kind of relationship sought and what a potential partner offers. Studies like the
one by Shackelford, Schmitt, and Buss (2005) show that when someone is seeking
a short-term relationship physical features are more important, while seeking longterm relationships means attaching higher importance to attributes like the ability
to commit. In the second stage, individuals evaluate the possibility of being
reciprocated in a declaration of romantic intentions; if someone believes that the
likelihood of acceptance is low, the interest in seeking a relationship decreases
despite the attraction. This motivation to avoid rejection can lead individuals to
seek less attractive partners (Shanteau & Nagy, 1976, 1979).
In the third stage, a self-presentation strategy is defined based on a prior
evaluation of the likelihood of acceptance. If this likelihood is high, individuals
tend to introduce themselves just the way they are; if it is low, they tend to show
Fear of negative social evaluation in courtship / Temor a la evaluacin social negativa en el cortejo
characteristics that they hope are attractive to the other person and to hide less
attractive features. This leads to tensions between wanting to reveal oneself the
way we are and being accepted; however, people generally feel more satisfied
when they express themselves the way they are and when they openly show their
virtues and limitations when seeking long-term relationships (Swann, Griffin,
Predmore, & Gaines, 1987). However, if the others interests are not clear, the
first thing people do is try to be accepted by trying to show that they are pleasant
in terms of what the other expects, by exaggerating their abilities or acting like
they are morally virtuous (Jones & Pittman, 1982).
Finally, the purpose of the fourth stage is to build a good relationship,
regardless of the type of bond sought. Establishing affinity will increase the
likelihood that another encounter will take place. Thus, people show themselves
to be more sociable, more interested in the other and more extroverted and to have
a better sense of humour (Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid, 1977).
In the dynamic of the first encounter, the ability to show oneself in a positive
light and to reach high levels of performance in others evaluations is important.
In everyday life, people evaluate others and are aware that others are evaluating
them. In this context, individuals seek to adjust their behaviour to generate the
impressions they want in others. Goffman (1959, 1967) compared people to actors
who perform in their interactions as if in a play. He called this handling impressions or self-presentation, referring to the process in which individuals try to
control the impressions that others form of them. This self-presentation motivation
(SPM) may be viewed as an individual difference in which the levels at which
each person monitors and adjusts their behaviour may vary from one individual to
the next and may remain relatively constant in different situations. However,
variations can also be observed based on the situational context. In this case,
when a person is on a first date or in a situation in which they are being evaluated,
they may seek clues to ascertain what kind of impression they are making and to
particularly heed this information in order to make a good impression (Leary &
Kowalski, 1990). They may also decide how much effort must be spent on this
self-presentation, more when they perceive higher chances of success and less
when they believe that they will not be accepted by the potential partner even if
they make a huge effort (Bredow et al., 2008).
Social evaluation and fear of negative social evaluation

Human beings spend most of their time with other people as a way of promoting
the survival and reproduction of their species (Ainsworth, 1989; Baumeister &
Leary, 1995; Buss, 1991). For this reason, rejection may be perceived as stressful
and can be a source of worry or fear (Leary, Koch, & Hechenbleikner, 2001).
Some people experience fear in social situations such as public speaking or
interacting with someone else for the first time (American Psychiatric
Association [APA], 2002).
This particular reaction is known as fear of negative social evaluation (FNSE),
which refers to the anxiety that emerges from the perception of being judged by
others. This may prompt exaggerated discomfort in some individuals to such an

extent that it leads them to avoid those social stimuli perceived as threatening, and
even to avoid doing certain everyday activities (Carleton, McCreary, Norton, &
Asmundson, 2006; Watson & Friend, 1969).
Within the literature, we can pinpoint two forms of anxiety: one known as state
anxiety and the other as trait anxiety. Trait anxiety is a relatively stable individual
characteristic that consists of an anxious propensity that distinguishes individuals in
their tendency to perceive situations as threatening and thus to experience higher
levels of state anxiety. State anxiety is a transitory emotional state which is made up
of automatic responses and a subjective experience of discomfort when faced with a
particular stimulus perceived as threatening (Spielberger & Daz-Guerrero, 1975).
Within this broader context, FNSE is a component of trait social anxiety, appearing
in a stable fashion with variations across individuals and arising specifically when
faced with stimuli that involve social interactions. It is not a personality disorder but
a feature present in a greater or lesser extent in all individuals.
Clark and Wells (1995) set forth a cognitive model which explains the assumptions that a person makes when they find themselves in a social situation that they
fear. These assumptions refer to the persons belief about the danger that their
behaviour may be evaluated as unacceptable, leading to undesirable consequences
such as rejection from others (Clark & Arkowitz, 1975). Based on these beliefs, the
individual avoids situations that imply different forms of evaluation in which they
could be judged negatively (Erozkan, 2009; Leary, 1983). This fear of evaluation by
others may have repercussions on the quality of their interpersonal relationships in
the emotion, social, sexual and intellectual realms (Sparrevohn & Rapee, 2009). For
example, behaviours like not attending meetings for fear of being watched and
criticized by others, manifesting physiological responses when interacting with
other people (such as sweating or blushing) or avoiding having conversations for
fear of committing a mistake and being judged as stupid, can all make it more
difficult to find friends, work and a partner, given that the individual tries to avoid
and escape from these social situations that trigger anxiety (Ingls et al., 2010).
Fear of Negative Social Evaluation (FNSE) and first encounters with a

potential partner
First encounters with potential partners are thus a situation of reciprocal evaluation in
which the possibilities of being accepted or rejected are present in the minds of both
people involved. Prior studies have proven that people with low self-esteem (Baldwin
& Keelan, 1999; Leary, 2004), who are fearful (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) and
who are particularly sensitive to rejection (Downey, Freitas, Michaelis, &
Khouri, 1998) have difficulties reading others intentions and gauging their interest in
accordance with their probabilities of success in these situations. According to the
results of Vorauer and Ratner (1996), the fear of rejection is sufficient reason not to
approach a person to whom one feels attracted. This same pattern may appear in people
with high levels of FNSE. People constantly concerned with being negatively evaluated
by others may have problems approaching potential partners who attract them because
of a fear of rejection. A tendency like this one may have serious implications in these
peoples lives, given that the probabilities of find a partner who meets their requirements
is reduced when given a courtship strategy in which the priority is not being rejected at
any time, instead of a quest for characteristics that allow for mutual compatibility and
satisfaction.
Individuals with high levels of FNSE prefer to remain in positively asymmetrical
relationships where the most important factor is being very attractive to the partner,
even if this attraction is not mutual, instead of establishing equal relationship (Smith
& Campbell, 1973). According to the theory of social comparison (Festinger, 1954),
this is one way of lowering the threats to their self-esteem, reaffirming the individuals
superiority over their partner (Friend & Gilbert, 1973). This strategy may be a
particular criterion for selecting potential partners in which one does not seek the
most attractive partner but the partner with whom one perceives the lowest probability
of rejection and an asymmetry that confers higher status.
Having high levels of FNSE may also cause problems in interactions, given
that the fear of being evaluated negatively and rejected may lead to extreme
worry, which consumes the cognitive resources needed to perform properly in
social interactions of this kind.
Bearing these theoretical considerations in mind, the purpose of this study is to
test possible effects of FNSE on the expectations of reciprocity, anxiety and SPM
in the possibility of interacting with people of the opposite sex with different
levels of attractiveness. Our hypothesis is that people with high levels of FNSE
will have lower expectations of reciprocity, higher SPM and higher levels of state
anxiety than people with low levels of FNSE.
Method
Participants
Participants were 114 undergraduates in an introductory psychology course at a
public urban research university in Mexico City. However, six of them did not
believe the cover story, so the final sample analysed had 108 participants (57 men
and 51 women). The average age was 19.6 with an SD of 2.0. Of the total, 52%
reported being in a couple relationship. Fifty-seven participants attended as part of
the evaluation requirements for classes in their psychology course, and the other
51 were invited by these students.
Instruments
We used a Spanish translation (Cruz-Torres et al., 2013) of Learys Fear of
Negative Social Evaluation instrument (1983), which recovers the eight items
that show the greatest psychometric functioning of the 12 in the original version
(Duke, Krishnan, Faith, & Storch, 2006; Rodebaugh et al., 2004). They are
presented in a pictographic 7-point Likert format (Reyes-Lagunes, 1993) in
which the smallest icons mean That doesnt really describe me while the biggest
means That describes me very well.
We also used the state anxiety subscale (IDAE) of the Instrumento de

Ansiedad Estado Rasgo (Trait State Anxiety Instrument), which has been validated in samples of residents of Mexico (Spielberger & Daz-Guerrero, 1975). It is
made up of 20 items that describe anxiety levels at the moment the instrument is
being administered. It comes on a Likert scale with four response choices. Half of
the items describe low anxiety levels (e.g., I feel calm) while the other half
describe high anxiety levels (e.g., I feel anxious).
In addition, we used an SPM measurement designed especially for this study
which was made up of three items to pictographs on a seven-point Likert scale.1
Verification of stimuli and functioning of measurement instruments
The IDAE (Spielberger & Daz-Guerrero, 1975) was originally proposed with a
unifactorial structure. Given that this instrument was designed some years ago and
constructed with a different sample, we decided to use a factorial analysis to
identify possible variations from the original structure. We performed a factorial
analysis of main components with orthogonal rotation and Kaiser normalization.
We got a solution of four factors which converged in six iterations and explained
60.9% of the total variation, grouping 17 of the original 20 items (Table 1). Once
we knew the factorial structures, variables were formed by averaging the scores of
the items corresponding to each factor.
Table 1. Factorial structure and main indicators of the IDEA.
Calm Excited Anxious Secure
Variation explained 21.4% 15.8%
Cronbachs
.83
.72
Mean
2.97
1.1
SD
.56
.25
I feel happy
.781 .007
I feel satisfied
.721
.140
I feel fine
.708
.011
I feel comfortable
.685 .055
I feel restful
.641 .324
I feel rested
.636 .123
I am at ease
.623 .129
I feel like Im about to explode
.151
.833
I feel agitated
.079
.826
I feel upset
.031
.747
I am tense
.085
.207
I am worried
.220 .040
I feel anxious
.077
.330
I feel nervous
.040
.480
I feel secure
.187 .100
I feel selfassured
.429
.205
I feel calm
.156 .399
Note: The rotation converged in nine iterations.
13.8% 10.6%
.76
.61
1.5
3.2
.53
.50
.055
.041
.061
.202
.309
.047
.030
.264
.087
.188
.121
.086
.083
.108
.145
.153
.193
.076
.171
.341
.773
.092
.765
.105
.639
.308
.618
.172
.173
.747
.051
.640
.004
.619
The same procedure was used to identify the psychometric characteristics of

the measurement of the self-presentation motivation (SIM). The analysis showed a
unifactorial solution which grouped together all items ( = .73). A new variable
which averaged the three items was formed; its mean was 3.9 with an SD of 1.2.
Materials
Four photographs were used (two of men and two of women). They were
evaluated previously using a judgement procedure based on their attractiveness
(Zacaras-Guerra, 2009). Two of the photographs (one man and one woman) were
clearly considered more attractive than the other two, who were considered
relatively unattractive.
Procedure
Intentional non-probabilistic sampling was used in an effort to ensure that all the
invited participants were between 18 and 25 years old. They were all undergraduate students, some of them participated as part of their evaluation in a
psychology course, while the others were invited by the former. Participants
went to the laboratory for a prior registration in which they chose between several
available schedules to participate. In order to give credibility to the cover story, it
was emphasized that they had to arrive punctually, given that there would be other
invitees waiting for them to participate in the study. Therefore, if the participants
arrived 20 minutes after the assigned time, they were scheduled for a later
appointment.
The participants were welcomed into the laboratory individually and were
alone throughout the entire procedure, with the exception of the experimenters
presence when the procedure required it.
They began by responding to the FNSE measurement. Afterwards, they were
told that the study examined how we interact with people whom we have not met
previously. They were told (cover story) that other participants had been invited
and were in other laboratory rooms, and that they would meet one of them. After
meeting and talking for a few minutes, they would answer several questions to
conclude their participation. They were also told that it was important to ensure
that they knew none of the other participants, and for this reason they were going
to exchange photographs. If they confirmed that they did not know any of them,
the study continued, but if they did know any of the other participants, the study
would be suspended. In this context, they were shown photographs of two other
participants who were supposedly in the other rooms and they were told that they
would meet one of these two people. They were asked whether they knew either
of them. Once they had confirmed that they knew neither of them, they were
asked to respond to attractiveness measurements of this person, their interest in
establishing a relationship with him/her after the study and their expectations of
being accepted or rejected.2
The photographs shown were of people of the opposite sex of the participant.
One of them was a highly physically attractive person and the other less attractive,
as verified in a previous study (Zacaras-Guerra, 2009).3 In line with the experimental conditions, some participants were told that they would meet the attractive
person while others were told they would meet the unattractive one, who was
labelled only with the room number where they were supposedly waiting (They
were told, You are going to meet the person in Room A, as they were shown the
corresponding photograph). Afterwards, they were asked to take a photograph of
themselves to show to the other participant and ensure that they did not indeed
know each other. Once they had taken the photograph, the experimenter left the
laboratory saying that they were going to print the photograph to show it to the
other participant and thus ensure that they were not acquainted with each other.
The experimenter told the participant that when they returned they would go to
meet the other person whose photograph they had seen. In the meantime, they
were asked to fill out a form with the measurements of state anxiety, selfpresentation motivation and expectations when meeting that person.
When the experimenter returned, verified that they had filled out the instruments and told the participant that the procedure was finished, they were taken to
a post-experiment interview to verify that the participant had indeed believed that
they were going to meet someone, were fully debriefed and thanked for their
participation.
Experimental design
The design resulting from this procedure and the classification of the participants
into high and low levels of FNSE was 2 (FNSE: high/low) x 2 (attractiveness of
the person to be met: high/low). As the result of this design, 27 highly attractive
participants were considered low FNSE, 25 highly attractive participants were
considered high FNSE, 31 not very attractive participants were considered low
FNSE and 24 not very attractive participants were considered high FNSE.
Analysis
In order to obtain validity indicators of the construct of the instruments, factorial
analyses of main components with Varimax orthogonal rotation were used. We
also got indicators of internal consistency for each instrument using Cronbachs
alpha. To test the effects of FNSE on the dependent variables, comparisons of the
means via general linear model analysis were used. To analyse the significant
interactions from these analyses, we used a one-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA).
Results
The measurement of FNSE was analysed to the same procedure, with a unifactorial solution that grouped the eight items and explained 52.6% of the variation
( = .87). A new variable was formed by averaging the eight items; it had a mean
of 3.1 and an SD of 1.1.
To verify that one of the photographs used was perceived as more attractive
than the other, we performed a t-test for related samples in both men and women,
comparing the attractiveness4 of the same participant with the attractiveness of the
people in the two photographs (high and low attractiveness). We noted significant
differences in both men (t(56) = 9.3, p < .001) and women (t(50) = 8.1, p < .001)
in their evaluation of both photographs in the direction initially expected (attractive man: x = 3.96/unattractive man: x 2:31; attractive woman: x = 4.32/ unattractive woman: x 2:65).
To analyse the FNSE, a new variable (FNSE) was created in the database
which was made from the sum of the scores reported in each of the items in this
instrument. Later, two groups of participants were formed based on the mean (X~ =
2.87) of that variable: one group classified the participants with high scores (x =
4.18) and the other the participants with low scores on FNSE (x = 2.23).
Expectations of future interaction

Spearman correlations were used to analyse the relationship between the participants expectations regarding possible future interactions with the person in the
photograph and their own intention to establish this relationship. To identify
possible effects of FNSE on these relationships, we separately analysed the groups
with high and low FNSE. In participants with low levels of FNSE, the desire to
establish a friendly bond with the other person (How much would you like to
befriend this person?) was positively associated (rho = .572; p < .001) with the
expectations of reciprocity (How likely is it that this person would be willing to
befriend you?). This effect was not observed in participants reporting high levels
of FNSE (rho = .109; p = .457). We also noted that a greater willingness to meet
the person after the study (How much would you like to keep in touch with this
person after participating in this study?) was associated with a higher expectation
of reciprocity (How likely is it that this person would be willing to keep in touch
with you after participating in this study?). However, this effect is stronger in
those who report low levels of FNSE (rho = .805; p < .001) than in those
reporting high levels (rho = .596; p < .001). These results show that people
with low levels of FNSE have higher expectations of reciprocity in the coming
interaction when they are motivated to meet this person, whereas this effect is
lower or non-existent in people who report high levels of FNSE.
Self-presentation motivation
In order to identify the possible effects of FNSE on the SPM, we performed a general
linear model with high and low levels of FNSE and the attractiveness of the person
they were going to meet (high or low) as factors, and the dependent variable being the
SIM. We did not find significant interaction among the variables (F(1, 104) = 1.0;
p = .319), but we did find a main effect due to the level of FNSE (F(1, 104) = 9.6,
10
p = .002), showing that the participants with high levels of FNSE reported a higher
SIM (x = 4.2) than those who reported low levels of FNSE (x = 3.5). In order to
identify possible effects of attractiveness, we conducted student t-tests separately for
each level of attractiveness. When faced with the prospect of meeting a highly
attractive person, we found no effects of FNSE on SPM (t(51) = -1.45, p = .153)
(high FNSE: x = 4.2; low FNSE: x 3.7). In contrast, when the person they will
meet is not very attractive, we observed significant differences (t(53) = -2.98,
p = .004), showing people high in FNSE have a greater SPM (x = 4.3) than their
counterparts who are low in FNSE (x = 3.4).
Even though the difference is minimal, what is striking is that participants with high
FNSE report higher SPM when they are expecting to meet someone who is not very
attractive (x = 4.3) than when they are expecting to meet someone highly attractive (x =
4.2), while the motivation is greater under the condition of high attractiveness for those
who report low levels of FNSE. This pattern may indicate a potential partner selection
based on the estimated probabilities of acceptance. When estimating low probabilities
of acceptance from the highly attractive person, there is no SPM, while it does occur if
there is a possibility of meeting someone less attractive with whom the participant
believes to have a higher probability of reciprocity (Figure 1).
In the next analysis, we included the sex variable into the same factorial variance
analysis, and found two second-order interactions. The first is between the levels of
FNSE and the sex of participants, F(1, 100) = 5.54; p = .020. As seen in Figure 2, the
SPM for men is higher among those who were expecting to meet a more attractive
woman, F(1, 55) = 5.23; p = .026; while in women, the SPM is higher among those
who were expecting to meet a less attractive man. However, this effect does not
reach the criteria of statistical significance, F(1, 49) = 3.3; p = .075.
The second interaction, between the attractiveness of the person they will meet and
the sex of the participants, F(1, 100) = 8.71; gl = 1.100; p = .004, shows that high levels of
FNSE in both women and men are associated with high levels of SPM (Figure 3).
4.5
4.2
4.3
3.7
3.4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
High FNSE
Low FNSE
High attractive
Low attractive
Figure 1. Self-presentation motivation in participants with high and low levels of FNSE
when faced with the possibility of meeting an attractive or not very attractive person.
4.5
11
4.27
4.16
3.73
3.41
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
Male
Female
High attractive
Low attractive
Figure 2. Self-presentation motivation in male and female participants when faced with
the possibility of meeting an attractive or not very attractive person.
4.61
4.5
4
3.93
3.68
3.44
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
Mujeres
Hombres
Alto TESN
Bajo TESN
Figure 3. Self-presentation motivation in male and female participants depending on

their levels of FNSE.
However, this effect is clearly important in women, F(1, 49) = 20.98; p < .001, while in
men it does not reach the criteria of statistical significance, F(1, 55) = 0.518; p = .475.
State anxiety
To identify possible effects of FNSE on the dimensions of state anxiety, we used
general linear models in a 2 (FNSE high/low) x 2 (attractiveness high/low) design.
As the result of this analysis, we did not observe main effects or statistically
significant interactions in the dimensions excitement and anxiety (Fs < 1.2).
12
With regard to the analysis of the calmness dimension, we observed no

interaction effects (F(1, 104) = 208, sig = .097), but we did observe main effects
from attractiveness (F(1, 104) = 9.8; p = .002) and levels of FNSE (F(1, 104) = 5.1,
p = .026). As might be expected, those reporting high levels of FNSE reported
feeling less calm (x = 2.7) than those who reported low levels of FNSE (x = 2.9)
when faced with the prospect of meeting someone of the opposite sex. We also
observed that higher levels of calmness were reported when faced with the
prospect of interacting with a highly attractive person (x = 3.0) than with a not
very attractive person (x = 2.7). However, this result has no interpretation based
on the theoretical framework proposed in this project.
In the analysis of the security dimension, we only observed a main effect due
to FNSE (F(1, 104) = 14.8, p < .001), as those with high scores in FNSE reported
feeling less secure (x = 2.8) than those who showed lower scores (x = 3.2).
Conclusions
The first factor to consider when interpreting the results is that the sample of
participants has characteristics that are not necessarily representative of the entire
population in a country where only 23% of young people between the ages of 25
and 29 have access to university (INEGI, 2011). Therefore, they are representative
of a sample with these features, and even though we do not have reasons to
believe that they would change radically in a different sample, we cannot claim
that we would see the same interaction pattern. We should also consider the fact
that the design and experimental procedure used are a representation of a real
scenario, even though they allow for greater control over the variables, but they
are not identical to the scenario where first interactions happen naturally. This
limitation on the ecological validity of the study is a weakness shared by all
experimental designs, but the control we get in exchange enables us to observe the
effects and relationships among variables such as the one in this study with much
greater detail.
The results of this study show different effects of FNSE in the context of
interaction, at least future interaction, with a potential partner. First, we observed
that high levels of FNSE have an effect on the expectations of reciprocity since, as
Goffman (1959, 1967) notes, the individual is aware that just as he or she forms
judgements and impressions of others, their counterparts do so as well. People
with low levels of FNSE show a parallel rise in their desire to establish a
relationship with the other person and in their expectations of reciprocity. In
turn, those with high levels of FNSE do not show the same optimism, or they
show it to a lesser extent. Since people with low FNSE are less fearful of being
negatively evaluated, they probably perceive the situation as less stressful and are
less fearful of being rejected (Leary et al., 2001).
We also observed that the group with high FNSE reported greater SPM than
the group that is low in FNSE, but this increase is particularly sharp in the
interaction conditions with someone less attractive than they are. This pattern
might indicate a potential partner selection based on the estimated probabilities of
13
acceptance. As they estimate low probabilities of acceptance by the highly

attractive person, there is no SPM, while this motivation is indeed present when
faced with the possibility of meeting someone less attractive with whom they can
expect to have higher probabilities of reciprocity. This is congruent with the
results found by Smith and Campbell (1973) and Friend and Gilbert (1973), in
which the selection of a partner was not targeted at the most attractive person but
at the person with the highest likelihood of acceptance and an asymmetrical
position that was more advantageous to the individual. Shanteau and Nagys
results (1976) establish that when choosing a partner, one estimates the possibilities of acceptance, and when these are low the SPM diminishes.
The analyses by sex performed in this project showed a pattern of results that
was congruent with this previous evidence, but only among women. This difference may be due to the difference in reproductive strategies between men and
women. While the male strategy often implies a constant search for any opportunity to mate, the female strategy involves a more careful selection of potential
partners given that females make a higher investment in the reproduction process
than their male counterparts (Feingold, 1992). Given these parameters, detecting a
non-potential partner would lead to a lower willingness to introduce oneself
positively since it is not regarded as a worthwhile investment.
The analysis of anxiety shows effects not on the most extreme indicators of
anxiety (excitement and anxiety) but on the indicators of moderate levels of
anxiety (security and calmness). In those reporting high levels of FNSE, we
noticed less calmness and security when faced with the prospect of interacting
with another person since if they did not act coherently based on what the other
person is, they might endanger the interaction, leading to failure
(Goffman, 1959, 1967), which in turn generates stress and/or anxiety.
Contrary to what was expected, those who reported high levels of FNSE
reported a greater sense of calmness when faced with the prospect of meeting a
highly attractive person than when meeting a not very attractive person. This
could be due to the perception that a highly attractive person is not actually a
potential partner, and they thus discard in advance any attempt to please them and
establish a relationship with them (Downey et al., 1998).
With regard to state anxiety, we observed effects only in the indicators that
denote the absence of calmness, but not in the most extreme indicators of anxiety.
Those who reported high levels of FNSE are less calm when they meet someone of
the opposite sex and seem less secure, since the fear of rejection may lower their
desire to approach someone to whom they are attracted (Vorauer & Ratner, 1996).
In general, the results show that high levels of FNSE may have implications
in: (a) the selection of potential partners, as the individual may focus on less
attractive but more accessible partners; (b) the self-presentation effort, as the SPM
drops with more attractive partners; and (c) overall behaviour, in that the loss of
calmness may lead to difficulty adjusting ones own behaviour in order to present
a positive image. In future studies, it would be interesting to test these effects with
attributes other than physical attractiveness, such as the level of professional
training or socioeconomic level.
14
The limitations of this study include the fact that self-presentation was measured by the motivation to introduce oneself but was not evaluated per se; this
means that in Goffmans theatre metaphor (1959), we measured the subject
backstage, where they are preparing to meet the other instead of when they are
actually introducing themselves to their counterpart. Therefore, we recommend
that future studies analyse actual self-presentation in this context.
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
I believe it is very important to make a good impression in the person I am going to

meet; I feel bad if the person Im going to meet forms a bad impression of me;
Im going to try to ensure that the person Im going to meet forms a good
impression of me.
How attractive do you find this person?, How much would you like to befriend
this person?, How likely is it that this person is willing to befriend you?
In her study, Zacaras-Guerra (2009) performed a classification procedure of 12
photographs of men and women based on their attractiveness. To do this, she
asked 200 participants (university students) to classify the photographs of 12 people
of the opposite sex from the least to the most attractive (Which of these people
would you like to date?). The photographs used in this study were chosen based on
two criteria: first, they had to be located at either end of the classification, meaning
that one was clearly more attractive than the other, and secondly, they had to make
the hidden story credible; that is, they had to be pictures of people who really looked
like university students.
How attractive do you find this person?
15
Efectos del temor a la evaluacin social negativa en interaccin

con parejas potenciales: estudio experimental del primer
encuentro
Las formas de interaccin en la bsqueda de pareja no siempre se han llevado a
cabo como conocemos hoy en da. Anterior a la dcada de los 20s la eleccin de
pareja sentimental no estaba siempre en las manos de quienes formaran la pareja,
siendo los jefes de las familias quienes tomaban esta decisin. La formacin de
estas parejas tena por objetivo satisfacer las necesidades polticas, sociales y
econmicas de las familias y no las de los individuos (Coontz, 2004, 2005).
Posteriormente se adopt un sistema de citas, cuya idea fundamental era basar
la formacin de las parejas en la atraccin y el enamoramiento (Bredow, Cate, &
Huston, 2008). De esta forma, la eleccin de pareja recaa ya principalmente en
los propios individuos. Una tercera etapa en las formas de emparejamiento surge
con la aparicin en el mercado de las pastillas anticonceptivas, haciendo ms
comunes las prcticas sexuales fuera de las relaciones de compromiso. Espacios
socialmente controlados como festejos que reunan a varias familias perdieron
importancia ante otros como lugares pblicos e incluso pginas de internet donde
los requisitos para iniciar una relacin son claramente menores (Bozon &
Rault, 2012).
Bredow et al. (2008) plantean un modelo que describe la dinmica de los
primeros encuentros, donde las etapas que subyacen a la formacin de parejas
son: (a) la conexin entre los atributos que busca uno de los integrantes y los que
el otro ofrece, lo cual propicia una atraccin inicial entre ambos; (b) La decisin
de hacer una declaracin de intenciones; (c) la estrategia de auto-presentacin; y
(d) la construccin de una buena conexin inicial (qumica?).
La primera de esas etapas implica una evaluacin de los atributos buscados en
la pareja potencial. La atraccin inicial surge como resultado de la coincidencia
entre el tipo de relacin que se busca y la que ofrece alguna pareja potencial.
Estudios como el de Schackelford, Schmitt, y Buss (2005) muestran que cuando
se busca una relacin a corto plazo se otorga ms peso a caractersticas fsicas,
mientras que buscar relaciones a largo plazo incrementa la relevancia de atributos
como la capacidad de compromiso. En la segunda etapa se evala la posibilidad
de ser correspondido en la declaracin de intenciones; si se considera que la
probabilidad de aceptacin es baja, el inters por la bsqueda de una relacin
disminuye a pesar de la atraccin. Esta motivacin por evitar el rechazo puede
llevar a los individuos a pretender parejas menos atractivas (Shanteau &
Nagy, 1976, 1979).
16
En la tercera etapa se define una estrategia de autopresentacin con base en la

evaluacin previa de las probabilidades de aceptacin. Si estas probabilidades son
altas el individuo tiende a presentarse tal cual es; si las probabilidades son bajas
tiende a mostrar caractersticas que se espera sean atractivas para la otra persona y
a ocultar las menos atractivas. Lo anterior produce una tensin entre querer
mostrarse tal cual se es y ser aceptado; pero en general la gente se siente ms
satisfecha cuando se expresa como es y cuando busca relaciones a largo plazo
muestra abiertamente sus virtudes y limitaciones (Swann, Griffin, Predmore, &
Gaines, 1987). Sin embargo, en tanto los intereses del otro no sean claros lo
primero que harn las personas ser asegurarse de ser aceptados tratando de
mostrarse agradables segn lo que otro espera, exagerando sus capacidades o
aparentando ser moralmente virtuosos (Jones & Pittman, 1982).
Finalmente, el objetivo de la cuarta etapa es construir una buena relacin,
independientemente del tipo de vnculo que se busque. El establecimiento de
afinidad incrementar las probabilidades de que se presente un nuevo encuentro.
As las personas se muestran ms sociables, ms interesadas en el otro, ms
extrovertidas y con mejor sentido del humor (Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid, 1977).
En la dinmica del primer encuentro es relevante la capacidad para mostrarse
de manera positiva y alcanzar altos niveles de desempeo ante la evaluacin de
los dems. En la vida diaria, las personas evalan y estn conscientes de que son
evaluados por otros. Es en este contexto que los individuos buscan ajustar su
conducta para generar en los dems las impresiones que desean.
Goffman (1959, 1967) equipar a las personas con actores, que en sus interacciones actan, como representando una obra. A este fenmeno se le llam manejo
de las impresiones o auto presentacin, haciendo referencia al proceso por el cual
los individuos intentan controlar las impresiones que otros se forman de ellos.
Esta motivacin de autopresentacin puede concebirse como una diferencia individual, donde los niveles en que cada persona monitorea y ajusta su comportamiento pueden variar de individuo en individuo, mantenindose relativamente
constantes a lo largo de diferentes situaciones. Pero tambin se han observado
variaciones derivadas del contexto situacional. En este caso, cuando una persona
se encuentra en una primera cita o en una situacin de evaluacin, puede buscar
pistas para saber qu impresin causar y atender con especial cuidado a la
informacin relevante para causar la impresin correcta (Leary &
Kowalski, 1990). Se decide tambin la cantidad de esfuerzo que ha de dedicarse
al ejercicio de autopresentacin, siendo este mayor cuando se perciben buenas
probabilidades de xito y menor si se considera que no se conseguir la
aceptacin de la pareja aunque se haga un gran esfuerzo (Bredow et al., 2008).
Evaluacin social y temor a la evaluacin social negativa

El ser humano pasa la mayor parte de su tiempo con otras personas con el fin de
promover la sobrevivencia y reproduccin de su especie (Ainsworth, 1989;
Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Buss, 1991). Por esta razn el rechazo puede ser
percibido como estresante y constituye una fuente de preocupacin o miedo
17
(Leary, Koch, & Hechenbleikner, 2001). Algunas personas en particular experimentan temor a ciertas situaciones de corte social como hablar en pblico o
interactuar por primera vez con alguien (Asociacin Psiquitrica Americana
[APA], 2002).
Este miedo es conocido como temor a la evaluacin social negativa (TESN) y
se refiere a la angustia que surge de la percepcin de ser juzgado por otros,
pudiendo causar un malestar exagerado en algunos individuos, al grado de
llevarlos a evitar los estmulos que les parecen amenazantes e incluso dejar de
realizar algunas actividades cotidianas (Carleton, McCreary, Norton, &
Asmundson, 2006; Watson & Friend, 1969).
Dentro de la literatura se pueden ubicar dos componentes de la ansiedad: uno
conocido como ansiedad-estado y otro como ansiedad-rasgo. La ansiedad rasgo es
una caracterstica individual relativamente estable que consiste en una propensin
ansiosa que diferencia a los individuos en su tendencia a percibir las situaciones
como amenazadoras y a elevar, consecuentemente, su ansiedad estado. La ansiedad estado es un estado emocional transitorio que se compone de respuestas
automticas y una experiencia subjetiva de malestar ante un estmulo particular
que se percibe como amenazante (Spielberger & Daz-Guerrero, 1975). Dentro de
este contexto ms amplio, el TESN es un componente de la ansiedad rasgo, en
tanto que se presenta de manera estable, con variaciones a travs de los individuos, y se presenta de manera especfica ante estmulos que implican interacciones sociales. Ms que un trastorno de personalidad, es una caracterstica
presente en mayor o menor medida en todos los individuos.
Clark y Wells (1995) proponen un modelo cognitivo a partir del cual explican
los supuestos que una persona elabora cuando se encuentra dentro de una
situacin social a la que teme. Estos supuestos se refieren a la creencia de la
persona de que se encuentra en peligro de que su comportamiento sea evaluado
como inaceptable, implicando consecuencias desfavorables como el rechazo de
los dems (Clark & Arkowitz, 1975). A partir de dichas creencias, el individuo
evita situaciones que implican algn tipo de evaluacin en donde podra
calificrsele desfavorablemente (Erozkan, 2009; Leary, 1983). Este temor a la
evaluacin de los otros puede tener repercusiones en la calidad de las relaciones
interpersonales en los terrenos emocional, social, sexual e intelectual (Sparrevohn
& Rapee, 2009). Por ejemplo, dejar de asistir a reuniones por temor a ser
observado por los dems y criticado, manifestar respuestas fisiolgicas al relacionarse con otras personas (como sudor o rubor), o evitar tener conversaciones por
miedo a cometer un error y ser juzgado como tonto, puede complicar el encontrar
amigos, trabajo y una pareja, puesto que se intenta evitar y escapar de esas
situaciones sociales que provocan ansiedad (Ingls et al., 2010).
Temor a la Evaluacin Social negativa y primeros encuentros con la pareja

Los primeros encuentros con parejas potenciales son entonces un escenario de
evaluacin recproca donde las opciones de ser aceptado o rechazado se encuentran presentes en la mente de ambos involucrados. Estudios previos han mostrado
18
que las personas que cuentan con una baja autoestima (Baldwin & Keelan, 1999;
Leary, 2004), quienes son temerosos (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), y quienes
son especialmente sensibles al rechazo (Downey, Freitas, Michaelis, &
Khouri, 1998) tienen dificultades para leer las intenciones de los dems y calibrar
su inters de acuerdo a sus probabilidades de xito en estas situaciones. De
acuerdo con los resultados de Vorauer y Ratner (1996), el temor a ser rechazado
es motivo suficiente para no acercarse a una persona hacia la cual se siente
atraccin. Este mismo patrn podra presentarse en quienes tienen niveles altos
de TESN. Personas que se preocupan constantemente por ser evaluados negativamente por los dems podran tener problemas para acercarse a las parejas
potenciales que les atraen ante el temor a ser rechazados. Una tendencia como
esta podra tener implicaciones serias en la vida de estas personas, dado que las
probabilidades de estar con alguien que cubre sus requerimientos se ven reducidas
ante una estrategia de emparejamiento que tiene como prioridad no ser rechazado
en el momento y no una bsqueda de caractersticas que permitan compatibilidad
y satisfaccin mutua.
Los individuos con altos niveles de TESN prefieren permanecer en relaciones
positivamente asimtricas, donde lo ms importante es resultar muy atractivo para
la pareja aunque la atraccin no sea mutua, en lugar de establecer relaciones
equitativas (Smith & Campbell, 1973). De acuerdo con la teora de comparacin
social (Festinger, 1954), esta es una manera de reducir las amenazas contra la
autoestima, reafirmando la superioridad del individuo con respecto a su pareja
(Friend & Gilbert, 1973). Esta estrategia podra implicar un criterio particular de
seleccin de parejas potenciales, donde no se buscara a la pareja ms atractiva,
sino a aquella con quien se perciben menores probabilidades de rechazo y una
asimetra que ofrezca mayor estatus.
Tener niveles altos de TESN puede implicar tambin un problema al momento
de la interaccin en s, dado que el temor a ser evaluado negativamente y
rechazado pueden llevar a una preocupacin extrema, consumiendo los recursos
cognitivos necesarios para desempearse adecuadamente en una interaccin social
de ese tipo.
Considerando los antecedentes tericos revisados, el presente estudio tiene por
objetivo poner a prueba posibles efectos del TESN sobre las expectativas de
reciprocidad, ansiedad y motivacin de autopresentacin ante la posibilidad de
interactuar con personas del sexo opuesto con diferentes niveles de atractivo. Se
plantea como hiptesis que las personas con niveles altos de TESN tendrn
expectativas de reciprocidad ms bajas, mayor motivacin de auto presentacin
y niveles de ansiedad estado ms altos que las personas con niveles bajos de
TESN.
Mtodo
Participantes
Se cont con la participacin de 114 estudiantes universitarios residentes de la
Ciudad de Mxico. Sin embargo seis de ellos no creyeron la historia encubierta,
19
por lo que la muestra final a analizar fue de 108 participantes (57 hombres y 51
mujeres). El promedio de edad fue 19.6 con una DE de 2.0. Del total, el 52%
report encontrarse en una relacin de pareja. 57 participantes asistieron como
parte de los requerimientos de evaluacin para materias de los primeros semestres
en psicologa y los 51 restantes fueron invitados por esos mismos estudiantes.
Instrumentos
Se utiliz una traduccin al espaol (Cruz-Torres et al., 2013) del instrumento de
Temor a la Evaluacin Social Negativa de Leary (1983), que recupera los ocho
reactivos que presentan el mejor funcionamiento psicomtrico de los 12 que
componen la versin original (Duke, Krishnan, Faith, & Storch 2006;
Rodebaugh et al., 2004). stos se presentaron en formato tipo Likert
pictogrfico (Reyes-Lagunes, 1993) de 7 puntos donde el recuadro ms pequeo
significaba Me describe poco y el ms grande Me describe mucho.
Tambin se utiliz la sub escala de ansiedad estado (IDAE) del Instrumento de
Ansiedad Estado Rasgo, el cual ha sido validado previamente en muestras de
habitantes mexicanos (Spielberger & Daz-Guerrero, 1975). ste se compone de
20 reactivos que describen los niveles de ansiedad justo al momento de la
aplicacin. Se present en formato tipo Likert con cuatro opciones de respuesta.
La mitad de los reactivos describen bajos niveles de ansiedad (e.g., Me siento
calmado) y la otra mitad describe altos niveles de ansiedad (e.g., Me siento
ansioso).
Adems se emple una medida de motivacin de auto presentacin (MAP)
diseada especialmente para este estudio, compuesta de tres reactivos en formato
tipo Likert pictogrfico de siete puntos.1
Verificacin de estmulos y funcionamiento de instrumentos de medicin

El IDAE (Spielberger & Daz-Guerrero, 1975) fue originalmente propuesto con
una estructura unifactorial. Dado que este instrumento fue diseado hace ya varios
aos y fue construido con una poblacin diferente a la de este estudio, se decidi
utilizar un anlisis factorial para identificar posibles variaciones respecto de la
estructura original. Se llev a cabo un anlisis factorial de componentes principales con rotacin ortogonal y normalizacin de Kaiser. Se obtuvo una solucin
de cuatro factores que convergi en seis iteraciones y explica el 60.9% de la
varianza total, agrupando 17 de los 20 reactivos originales (Tabla 1). Una vez
conocida la estructura factorial se formaron variables promediando los puntajes de
los reactivos correspondientes a cada factor.
El mismo procedimiento se utiliz para identificar las caractersticas
psicomtricas de la medicin de motivacin a la autopresentacin (MAP). El
anlisis mostr una solucin unifactorial que agrup los tres reactivos ( = .73).
Se form una nueva variable que promedi los tres reactivos, cuya media fue de
3.9 con una DE de 1.2.
20
Tabla 1. Estructura factorial y principales indicadores del IDEA.

Tranquilidad Exaltacin Ansiedad Seguridad
Varianza
Explicada
de Cronbach
Media
DE
Me siento alegre
Me siento satisfecho
Me siento bien
Me siento cmodo
Me siento reposado
Me siento descansado
Estoy a gusto
Me siento a punto de
explotar
Me siento agitado
Me siento alterado
Estoy tenso
Estoy preocupado
Me siento ansioso
Me siento nervioso
Me siento seguro
Me siento con confianza
en m
Me siento calmado
21.4%
15.8%
13.8%
10.6%
.83
2.97
.56
.781
.721
.708
.685
.641
.636
.623
.151
.72
1.1
.25
.007
.140
.011
.055
.324
.123
.129
.833
.76
1.5
.53
.055
.061
.309
.030
.087
.121
.083
.145
.61
3.2
.50
.041
.202
.047
.264
.188
.086
.108
.153
.079
.031
.085
.220
.077
.040
.187
.429
.826
.747
.207
.040
.330
.480
.100
.205
.193
.171
.773
.765
.639
.618
.173
.051
.076
.341
.092
.105
.308
.172
.747
.640
.156
.399
.004
.619
Nota: La rotacin convergi en nueve iteraciones.
Materiales
Se utilizaron cuatro fotografas (dos de hombres y dos de mujeres) previamente
evaluadas mediante un procedimiento de jueceo con base en su atractivo
(Zacaras-Guerra, 2009). Dos de las fotografas (una de hombre y una de mujer)
eran consideradas claramente como muy atractivas y las otras dos como poco
atractivas.
Procedimiento
El muestreo fue accidental no probabilstico, procurando nicamente que los
participantes invitados tuvieran una edad de entre 18 y 25 aos. Todos eran
estudiantes universitarios, algunos de ellos estudiantes de psicologa y el resto
fueron invitados por los mismos estudiantes. Los participantes acudan al laboratorio para un registro previo donde elegan entre varios horarios y fechas
disponibles para participar. Se enfatizaba que tenan que llegar puntuales con el
propsito de dar credibilidad a la historia encubierta, en la que se planteaba que
habra otras personas invitadas en el mismo horario con quienes supuestamente
21
realizaran el estudio. Por lo tanto, si los participantes llegaban 20 minutos

despus de la hora asignada eran programados para una cita posterior.
Los participantes eran recibidos en el laboratorio individualmente y durante todo el
procedimiento se encontraban solos con excepcin del experimentador cuando el
procedimiento lo requera.
Comenzaban respondiendo la medicin de TESN. Despus, se les explicaba
que el estudio trataba sobre cmo interactuamos con las personas a quienes no
conocemos. Se les informaba (historia encubierta) que otros dos participantes
haban sido invitados, estaban en otras salas del laboratorio y que conoceran a
uno de ellos. Despus de conocerse y platicar unos minutos responderan unas
preguntas y con eso finalizara su participacin. Se les deca adems que era
importante garantizar que no conocan a ninguno de los otros participantes y con
ese fin se llevara a cabo un intercambio de fotografas. Si confirmaban no
conocerse se continuara con el estudio, de lo contrario se suspendera. En ese
contexto se les mostraban las fotografas de otros dos participantes que supuestamente estaban en otras salas y se les informaba que conoceran a una de esas dos
personas. Se les preguntaba si conocan a alguna de esas personas. Una vez
confirmado que no se conocan se les peda responder mediciones del atractivo
de esta persona, del inters por establecer una relacin con l o ella despus del
estudio, y de las expectativas de aceptacin o rechazo.2
Las fotografas mostradas eran de personas del sexo opuesto al participante.
Una de ellas corresponda a una persona de alto atractivo fsico y la otra de bajo
atractivo fsico, segn pudo verificarse en un estudio previo (ZacarasGuerra, 2009).3 De acuerdo con la condicin experimental, a algunos participantes
se les indicaba que conoceran a la persona atractiva y otros a la no atractiva,
nombradas nicamente con el nmero de la sala en la que se supona estaban
esperando (Vas a conocer a la persona que est en la sala A mientras se sealaba
la fotografa correspondiente). Despus se les peda que se tomaran una fotografa
de ellos mismos para mostrarla al otro(a) invitado(a) y garantizar que efectivamente no se conocieran. Una vez tomada la fotografa el experimentador sala del
laboratorio informando que imprimira la fotografa para mostrarla al otro participante y garantizar as que no se conocieran. El experimentador informaba que a
su regreso llevara al participante a conocer a la otra persona de quien se le haba
mostrado la fotografa. Se les peda que mientras tanto llenaran un cuadernillo con
las mediciones de ansiedad estado, motivacin de auto presentacin y expectativas al conocer a esa persona.
Al regresar, el experimentador verificaba el llenado de instrumentos e informaba
que el procedimiento haba concluido, se llevaba a cabo la entrevista post experimental para verificar que el participante hubiera credo que iba a conocer a alguien, se
le explicaban los verdaderos objetivos del estudio y se les agradeca su participacin.
Diseo experimental
El diseo resultante de este procedimiento y la clasificacin de los participantes en
niveles altos y bajos de TESN fue un 2 (TESN: alto/bajo) x 2 (atractivo de la
22
persona a conocer: alto/bajo). Como resultado de este diseo se cont con 27

participantes en la condicin atractivo alto y TESN bajo, 25 en la condicin de
atractivo alto y TESN alto, 31 en la condicin de atractivo bajo y TESN bajo, y 24
en la condicin de atractivo bajo y TESN alto.
Anlisis
Para obtener indicadores de validez de constructo de los instrumentos empleados
se llevaron a cabo anlisis factoriales de componentes principales con rotacin
ortogonal varimax. Se obtuvieron tambin indicadores de consistencia interna
para cada instrumento mediante la frmula alfa de Cronbach. Para poner a prueba
los efectos del TESN sobre las variables dependientes se utilizaron comparaciones
de medias mediante anlisis de modelo lineal general. Para analizar las interacciones que resultaron significativas de estos anlisis se utilizaron anlisis de
varianza de una va (ANOVA).
Resultados
La medicin de TESN se someti al mismo procedimiento, obtenindose una
solucin unifactorial que agrup los ocho reactivos y explic el 52.6% de la
varianza ( = .87). Se form una nueva variable promediando los ocho reactivos,
obteniendo una media de 3.1 con una DE 1.1.
Para verificar que las fotografas utilizadas fueran percibidas como una ms
atractiva que la otra se llev a cabo una prueba t para muestras relacionadas, tanto
en hombres como en mujeres, comparando la calificacin de atractivo4 del mismo
participante a las dos fotografas (alto y bajo atractivo). Se observaron diferencias
significativas tanto en hombres (t(56) = 9.3, p < .001) como en mujeres (t(50) = 8.1,
p < .001) en la evaluacin de ambas fotografas en la direccin inicialmente esperada
(hombre atractivo: x = 3.96/ hombre no atractivo: x = 2.31; mujer atractiva: x = 4.32/
mujer no atractiva:x = 2.65).
Para analizar el TESN se cre en la base de datos una nueva variable (TESN)
que se form con la suma de los puntajes reportados en cada uno de los reactivos
que componen ese instrumento. Posteriormente se formaron dos grupos de participantes con base en la mediana (X~ = 2.87) de esa variable: un grupo clasificaba a
los participantes con puntajes altos (x = 4.18) y otro a los participantes con
puntajes bajos en TESN (x = 2.23).
Expectativas respecto de la interaccin futura

Se utilizaron correlaciones Spearman para analizar la relacin entre las expectativas de los participantes respecto de posibles interacciones futuras con la persona
en la fotografa y su propia intencin de establecer esa relacin. Para identificar
posibles efectos del TESN sobre estas relaciones se llevaron a cabo anlisis por
separado en los grupos de alto y bajo TESN. En quienes reportan niveles bajos de
TESN, el deseo de establecer un vnculo amistoso con la otra persona (Qu
23
tanto te gustara ser amigo de esta persona?) se asocia positivamente (rho = .572;
p < .001) con la expectativa de reciprocidad (Qu tan probable es que esta
persona est dispuesta a ser tu amigo?). Este efecto no se observa en quienes
reportan niveles altos de TESN (rho = .109; p = .457). Se observa tambin que
una mayor disposicin por conocer a la persona despus del estudio (Qu tanto
te gustara seguir teniendo contacto con esta persona despus de participar en este
estudio?) se asocia con una mayor expectativa de reciprocidad (Qu tan probable es que esta persona quiera seguir teniendo contacto contigo despus de
participar en este estudio?). Sin embargo, este efecto es ms fuerte en quienes
reportan niveles bajos de TESN (rho = .805; p < .001) que en quienes reportan
niveles altos (rho = .596; p < .001). Estos resultados muestran en general que
quienes reportan niveles bajos de TESN tienen mejores expectativas de reciprocidad en la interaccin por venir cuando se encuentran motivados por conocer a
esa persona, siendo este efecto menor o inexistente en quienes reportan niveles
altos de TESN.
Motivacin de autopresentacin
Para identificar posibles efectos del TESN sobre la motivacin de
autopresentacin se realiz un Modelo Lineal General teniendo como factores
los niveles altos y bajos en TESN y la condicin de atractivo de la persona que
iban a conocer (alto o bajo), y como dependiente la MAP. No se encontr una
interaccin significativa entre las variables (F(1, 104) = 1.0; p = .319), pero s un
efecto principal debido al nivel de TESN (F(1, 104) = 9.6, p = .002), mostrando que
los participantes con niveles altos en TESN reportan una mayor MAP (x = 4.2)
que quienes reportan niveles bajos en TESN (x = 3.5). Para identificar posibles
efectos del atractivo se llevaron a cabo pruebas t de Student por separado para
cada condicin de atractivo. En la condicin de conocer a una persona altamente
atractiva no se observan efectos del TESN sobre la MAP (t(51) = -1.45, p = .153)
(Alto TESN: x = 4.2; bajo TESN: x = 3.7). En contraste, cuando la persona
que conoceran posea un atractivo bajo se observaron diferencias significativas
(t(53) = -2.98, p = .004), mostrando una mayor motivacin de autopresentacin
los altos en TESN (x = 4.3) que los bajos (x = 3.4).
Aunque la diferencia es marginal, llama la atencin que los participantes con
alto TESN reporten mayor MAP cuando esperan conocer a alguien de bajo
atractivo (x = 4.3) que cuando esperan conocer a alguien de alto atractivo (x =
4.2), mientras que la motivacin es mayor en la condicin de alto atractivo en
quienes reportan niveles bajos de TESN. Este patrn podra indicar una seleccin
de la pareja potencial basada en las probabilidades estimadas de aceptacin. Al
estimar bajas probabilidades de aceptacin de la persona altamente atractiva no
existe motivacin de autopresentacin, mientras que esta s se hace presente ante
la posibilidad de conocer a alguien menos atractivo, con quien se esperara tener
mayores probabilidades de reciprocidad (Figura 1).
En un siguiente anlisis se incorpor la variable sexo al mismo anlisis de
varianza factorial, encontrndose dos interacciones de segundo orden. La primera
24
4.5
4.3
4.2
3.7
3.4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
Alto TESN
Bajo TESN
Alto atractivo
Bajo atractivo
Figura 1. Motivacin de autopresentacin en participantes con niveles altos y bajos de

TESN ante la posibilidad de conocer a una persona de alto o bajo atractivo.
entre los niveles de TESN y el sexo de los participantes F(1, 100) = 5.54; p = .020.
Como se observa en la Figura 2, la motivacin de autopresentacin para
los hombres es mayor en quienes esperaban conocer a una mujer ms atractiva
F(1, 55) = 5.23; p = .026; mientras que en las mujeres, la motivacin de
autopresentacin es mayor en quienes esperaban conocer a un hombre menos
atractivo, pero este efecto no alcanza el criterio de significancia estadstica
F(1, 49) = 3.3; p = .075.
La segunda interaccin, entre el atractivo de la persona que conoceran y el sexo
de los participantes F(1, 100) = 8.71; gl = 1.100; p = .004, muestra que tanto en
hombres como en mujeres, niveles altos de TESN se asocian con niveles altos de
4.5
4.27
4.16
4
3.5
3.73
3.41
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
Mujeres
Hombres
Alto atractivo
Bajo atractivo
Figura 2. Motivacin de autopresentacin en participantes hombres y mujeres ante

expectativa de conocer a una persona de alto o bajo atractivo.
25
4.61
4.5
4
3.93
3.68
3.44
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
Mujeres
Hombres
Alto TESN
Bajo TESN
Figura 3. Motivacin de autopresentacin en participantes hombres y mujeres dependiendo de sus niveles de TESN.
motivacin de autopresentacin (Figura 3). Sin embargo, este efecto es claramente

importante en las mujeres F(1, 49) = 20.98; p < .001, mientras que en los hombres no
alcanza los criterios de significancia estadstica F(1, 55) = .518; p = .475.
Ansiedad Estado
Para identificar posibles efectos del TESN sobre las dimensiones de ansiedad
estado se utilizaron modelos lineales generales en un diseo 2 (TESN alto/bajo) x
2 (atractivo alto/bajo). Como resultado de este anlisis no se observan efectos
principales ni interacciones estadsticamente significativas en las dimensiones
exaltacin y ansiedad (Fs < 1.2).
Respecto al anlisis de la dimensin de tranquilidad no se observaron efectos
de interaccin (F(1, 104) = 208, sig = .097), pero s efectos principales del atractivo
(F(1, 104) = 9.8; p = .002) y los niveles de TESN (F(1, 104) = 5.1, p = .026). Como
podra esperarse se observa que quienes reportan niveles altos de TESN reportan
menor tranquilidad (x = 2.7) que quienes reportan niveles bajos de TESN (x = 2.9)
ante el escenario de conocer a otra persona del sexo opuesto. Se observa adems
que se reportan niveles mayores de tranquilidad ante la posibilidad de interactuar
con la persona de alto atractivo (x = 3.0) que con la persona de bajo atractivo (x =
2.7). Sin embargo, este resultado no encuentra interpretacin desde el marco
terico propuesto en este proyecto.
En el anlisis de la dimensin seguridad se observa slo un efecto principal
debido al TESN (F(1, 104) = 14.8, p < .001), reportndose menos seguros quienes
presentan puntajes altos de TESN (x = 2.8) que quienes presentan puntajes bajos
(x = 3.2).
26
Conclusiones
Un primer elemento a considerar para la interpretacin de los resultados
obtenidos es que la muestra de participantes tiene caractersticas que no
necesariamente representan al grueso de la poblacin, en un pas donde slo
el 23% de los jvenes de entre 25 y 29 aos tiene estudios universitarios
(INEGI, 2011). Sern entonces representativos para una muestra con esas
caractersticas y, aunque no contamos con elementos para pensar que estos
cambiaran radicalmente en una muestra distinta, tampoco podramos afirmar
que se observar el mismo patrn de relaciones. Debe considerarse tambin
que el diseo y procedimiento experimental utilizados, si bien permiten un
mayor control de las variables, constituyen una representacin, pero no son
idnticos al escenario en el cual ocurren las primeras interacciones de manera
natural. Esta limitacin respecto a la validez ecolgica es una debilidad comn
a todos los diseos experimentales, pero el control que se obtiene a cambio
permite observar con mucho detalle los efectos y relaciones entre variables tal
como aqu se presentan. Los resultados de este estudio muestran diversos
efectos del TESN en el contexto de interactuar, por lo menos a futuro, con
una pareja potencial. Primero, se observa que niveles altos de TESN tienen un
efecto sobre las expectativas de reciprocidad ya que como indica
Goffman (1959, 1967) el individuo se encuentra consciente de que as como
l se forma juicios e impresiones de los dems, los otros tambin lo harn con
respecto a l. Personas que reportan niveles bajos de TESN muestran un
incremento paralelo de sus deseos por establecer una relacin con la otra
persona y de sus expectativas de reciprocidad. Por su parte, quienes tienen
altos niveles de TESN no presentan este optimismo o lo muestran en menor
medida. Es probable que, al tener menos temor a ser evaluado negativamente,
se percibe como menos estresante la situacin y se tiene menos temor a ser
rechazado (Leary et al., 2001).
Se observa adems que el grupo de alto TESN reporta mayor motivacin de
autopresentacin que el grupo bajo en TESN, pero esta se incrementa particularmente en la condicin de interaccin con alguien de menor atractivo. Este
patrn podra indicar una seleccin de la pareja potencial basada en las probabilidades estimadas de aceptacin. Al estimar bajas probabilidades de
aceptacin de la persona altamente atractiva no existe motivacin de
autopresentacin, mientras que sta s se hace presente ante la posibilidad de
conocer a alguien menos atractivo, con quien se esperara tener mayores probabilidades de reciprocidad. Lo anterior es congruente con los resultados encontrados por Smith y Campbell (1973) y Friend y Gilbert (1973), donde la
seleccin de la pareja no apunta hacia la persona ms atractiva, sino a la que
ofrece mayores posibilidades de aceptacin y una posicin de asimetra ms
ventajosa para el individuo. Los resultados de Shanteau y Nagy (1976), establecen que en la eleccin de pareja se estiman las posibilidades de aceptacin y
cuando se estima que estas son bajas la motivacin de autopresentacin disminuye. Los anlisis por sexo realizados en el presente proyecto mostraron un
patrn de resultados congruente con esa evidencia previa, pero slo en el caso
27
de las mujeres. Esta diferencia puede deberse a la diferencia en las estrategias

reproductivas entre hombres y mujeres. Mientras la estrategia masculina implica
a menudo una bsqueda constante de cualquier oportunidad de reproducirse, la
estrategia femenina implica una seleccin ms cuidadosa de las parejas potenciales, dado que destina una mayor inversin que su contraparte al proceso de
reproduccin (Feingold, 1992). Bajo estos parmetros, la deteccin de una
pareja no potencial derivara en una menor disposicin a presentarse de manera
positiva, al no considerarla como una inversin redituable.
El anlisis de ansiedad muestra efectos no sobre los indicadores ms extremos
de ansiedad (exaltacin y ansiedad) pero s sobre los indicadores de niveles
moderados de ansiedad (seguridad y tranquilidad). En quienes reportaron niveles
altos de TESN, se observa menor tranquilidad y seguridad ante la expectativa de
interactuar con otra persona ya que si no se acta coherentemente con base en lo
que el otro es, se pone en peligro la interaccin y la llevara al fracaso
(Goffman, 1959, 1967) lo cual, genera estrs y/o ansiedad.
Contrario a lo que se esperaba, quienes reportaron altos niveles de TESN
reportan mayor tranquilidad ante la posibilidad de conocer a alguien de alto
atractivo que alguien de bajo atractivo. Esto podra deberse a la percepcin de
que una persona de alto atractivo no constituye una pareja potencial en realidad,
descartndose de antemano cualquier intento de agradarle y establecer una
relacin (Downey et al., 1998).
En referencia a la ansiedad estado, se observan efectos slo en los indicadores
que denotan ausencia de tranquilidad y no en los indicadores ms extremos de
ansiedad. Quienes reportaron niveles altos de TESN tienen menos tranquilidad
cuando conocern a una persona del sexo opuesto y se presentan como menos
seguros, ya que el temor a ser rechazado podra disminuir el deseo de acercarse a
una persona hacia la cual se siente atraccin (Vorauer & Ratner, 1996).
Los resultados en general muestran que niveles altos de TESN pueden tener
implicaciones en (a) la seleccin de las parejas potenciales, al enfocarse en parejas
menos atractivas pero ms accesibles; (b) en el esfuerzo de autopresentacin, al
disminuir la motivacin de autopresentacin con parejas ms atractivas; y (c) en el
desempeo en general, en tanto que la prdida de tranquilidad puede llevar a una
dificultad para ajustar el propio comportamiento a fin de presentar una imagen
positiva. Sera conveniente en futuras investigaciones poner a prueba estos efectos
con otros atributos adems del atractivo fsico, como el nivel de preparacin
profesional o el nivel socioeconmico.
Dentro de las limitaciones el estudio puede enunciarse el hecho de que la
autopresentacin fue medida mediante la motivacin de realizar dicha accin y no
fue evaluada per se; esto quiere decir que dentro de la metfora teatral de
Goffman (1959), se midi al sujeto que se encuentra tras bambalinas donde se
prepara para la representacin en comparacin a cuando se encuentra en escena
donde se presenta bajo la mirada del otro. Por lo que se recomienda que estudios
posteriores se pueda analizar la autopresentacin puesta en escena.
28
Notas
1. Es importante para m generar una buena impresin en la persona que voy a
conocer; Me sentira mal si la persona que voy a conocer se forma una mala
impresin de m; Voy a tratar de que la persona que voy a conocer se forme una
buena impresin de m.
2. Cun atractivo/a crees que es esta persona?; Cunto te gustara ser amigo de esta
persona?; Cun probable es que esta persona est dispuesta a ser tu amigo?
3. En su estudio, Zacaras-Guerra (2009) llev a cabo un procedimiento de clasificacin
de 12 fotografas de hombres y 12 de mujeres con base en su atractivo. Para ello
pidi a 200 participantes (estudiantes universitarios) que clasificaran las fotografas
de 12 personas del sexo contrario, de la ms a la menos atractiva (Con cul de estas
personas te gustara iniciar una relacin de pareja?). Las fotografas utilizadas en el
presente estudio fueron seleccionadas con base en dos criterios. Primero, que se
ubicaran en el extremo de clasificacin, una claramente ms atractiva que la otra.
Segundo, que permitieran hacer creble la historia encubierta. Es decir, que fueran
fotos de personas que parecieran realmente alumnos de la universidad.
4. Cun atractivo/a crees que es esta persona?.
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On: 11 February 2015, At: 16:45

Revista de Psicologa Social:

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Effects of fear of negative social

Christian-Enrique Cruz-Torres , Rolando Daz-Loving , Joaquina

Alberto Padilla-Bautista , Paola-Eunice Daz-Rivera , Ilse

Gonzlez-Rivera & Rebecca-Esther Oropeza-Lozano

Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

Revista de Psicologa Social / International Journal of Social Psychology, 2015

Effects of fear of negative social evaluation in interaction with

C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

atractiva que la otra, y se les informaba que conoceran a una de ellas. Se

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Social evaluation and fear of negative social evaluation

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

others. This may prompt exaggerated discomfort in some individuals to such an

Fear of Negative Social Evaluation (FNSE) and first encounters with a

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

We also used the state anxiety subscale (IDAE) of the Instrumento de

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

The same procedure was used to identify the psychometric characteristics of

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

Downloaded by [University of Guanajuato], [Christian Cruz] at 16:45 11 February 2015

Expectations of future interaction

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C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

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Figure 3. Self-presentation motivation in male and female participants depending on

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C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

With regard to the analysis of the calmness dimension, we observed no

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acceptance. As they estimate low probabilities of acceptance by the highly

C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

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I believe it is very important to make a good impression in the person I am going to

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Efectos del temor a la evaluacin social negativa en interaccin

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C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

En la tercera etapa se define una estrategia de autopresentacin con base en la

Evaluacin social y temor a la evaluacin social negativa

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Temor a la Evaluacin Social negativa y primeros encuentros con la pareja

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C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

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Verificacin de estmulos y funcionamiento de instrumentos de medicin

C.-E. Cruz-Torres et al.

Tabla 1. Estructura factorial y principales indicadores del IDEA.

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Nota: La rotacin convergi en nueve iteraciones.

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realizaran el estudio. Por lo tanto, si los participantes llegaban 20 minutos