“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

A study published in Personality and Individual Differences proposed that engaging in functional reappraisal (i.e. reevaluating your situation by acknowledging and rationalizing the negative aspects of your predicament) can reduce social anxiety during a job interview. 

This research was carried out by Oana A. David, Alexandra Canta, Ioana Salagean from Babes-Bolyai University, Gaetano Valenza from the University of Pisa and Douglas S. Mennin from Columbia University.

If you’re one of the fifteen million people in the United States who suffers from a Social Anxiety Disorder, then you’re likely aware of how much this disorder can impact your ability to socialize. Considering social skills have become more important than ever in the workplace, this can greatly affect one’s career advancement. 

Fortunately, there are various strategies that may help diminish perceived anxiety and improve performance during an anxiety-inducing event such as a job interview. 

Strategies for coping with social anxiety 

The first strategy is called functional reappraisal. This involves rationalizing a stressful situation, such as by acknowledging that an interview may go badly, but a bad interview won’t kill you and you’ll be able to cope with the outcome. This strategy has been shown to reduce anxiety and emotional distress. 

The second strategy is called positive reappraisal. This involves reinterpreting an event by emphasizing the positive aspects, such as by viewing it as a learning experience. This has been shown to decrease anxiety and improve optimism.

The last strategy is called suppression by faking. During a job interview, this would require you to hide your nerves while displaying positive emotions and characteristics such as confidence and enthusiasm. 

While some experts believe that faking emotions can lead to negative outcomes like emotional burnout, others suggest that it can be an effective mechanism to regulate emotions when used in a workplace environment. 

To test these strategies, the researchers recruited individuals who suffer from a social anxiety disorder, instructed them to adopt one of these strategies, and measured their physiological response during a job interview.

The researchers began by connecting an ECG and EEG to each participant. The ECG measured the electrical activity of their heart while the EEG registered neural pattern activity. 

The ECG and EEG were initially recorded for three minutes in order to establish a baseline. Following this, the participants were told to imagine that they applied for their dream job and were required to give an impromptu speech during the job interview. 

They were also told that their performance during the interview would be evaluated by a panel of experts. While the participants were anticipating giving their speech, the researchers recorded their heart and brain activity for 10 minutes. 

Afterwards, participants were given instructions regarding the evaluation criteria for their speech. They were told during their presentation that they would need to smile, show enthusiasm, present confidently, while maintaining eye contact and avoiding long pauses or stammering.  Then, they were given three minutes to prepare their speech. 

Next, participants were divided into four groups, (1) suppression by faking group, (2) positive reappraisal group, (3) functional reappraisal group, (4) control group. In the suppression by faking group, the participants were told to hide their nerves by expressing positive qualities  such as excitement and confidence.

For the positive reappraisal group, participants were told to reinterpret the situation in a more positive way, such as by viewing it as an opportunity to improve their performance for the future. 

In the functional reappraisal group, participants were told to acknowledge that they may end up embarrassing themselves, but it wouldn’t be catastrophic, and they should accept themselves as human beings.

They were introduced to three observers who would evaluate their speech in-person. The room also contained a camera that would supposedly stream their performance live so that a much larger audience of experts could also evaluate them. 

After their speech, the participants were reconnected to the ECG machine, and were instructed to fill out a survey assessing their subjective experience.  

The results of this experiment revealed that the functional reappraisal strategy was the most effective in terms of lowering reported anxiety levels and boosting confidence, compared to the other strategies.

Participants in the functional reappraisal group also showed higher activation of the left prefrontal cortex (PFC), a brain region related to positive emotions.  

The researchers also found an association between positive reappraisal and activation in the right PFC. This can be explained by studies which suggest that the right PFC plays a vital role in reducing negative emotions.  

Lastly, the researchers didn’t find a significant difference in cardiac activity (e.g. heart rate, blood pressure) between the four groups. 

Overall, the researchers found that functional reappraisal was the most effective strategy for improving performance, increasing positive emotions and reducing social anxiety during a job interview.