Social Interaction Anxiety Scale

What it measures

Measures anxiety and distress specifically during social interactions (e.g., meeting people, joining conversations, dating) as distinct from performance situations. Widely used alongside the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) — together they cover the two main domains of social anxiety: interaction anxiety and observation anxiety.

Response format

Likert (0–4, not at all to extremely); total 0–80

Representative items

• I become anxious if I have to speak in a group.
• I have difficulty mixing comfortably with the people I work with.
• I am tense mixing in a group.
• I have difficulty talking with other people.
• I find it difficult to disagree with another's point of view.

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available from Richard Mattick. Cut-off >=34 suggests significant social interaction anxiety. Standardly used alongside the Social Phobia Scale (SPS, 20 items; Mattick & Clarke, 1998) which measures anxiety about being scrutinised. Together they form a 40-item battery covering both major social anxiety dimensions.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Mattick, R.P., & Clarke, J.C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(4), 455–470.

Keywords