Social anxiety has been shown to influence the way individuals dynamically update their self-feelings after receiving feedback, with socially anxious individuals more easily incorporating negative...Show moreSocial anxiety has been shown to influence the way individuals dynamically update their self-feelings after receiving feedback, with socially anxious individuals more easily incorporating negative rather than positive feedback into their self-feelings and the reverse tending to be true for non-socially anxious individuals. This study aimed to explore the role online peer victimization has on this ‘affective updating process’. Additionally, we explored the interaction between social anxiety, online peer victimization, age and affective updating. We hypothesized that more frequent online peer victimization would make socially anxious individuals more likely to feel worse about themselves after negative performance feedback, while being less prone to better self-feelings after positive performance feedback. Furthermore, we hypothesized that younger socially anxious individuals would show similar patterns. The sample consisted of 192 participants (164 female) between the ages of 12-25 years. Participants were asked to give an impromptu speech and rate themselves on 80 evaluative items afterwards. Per item, participants received feedback from a judge and were asked to indicate how they felt about themselves. A computational model was used to calculate whether participants updated their self-feelings more strongly based on positive or negative feedback. Participants with higher self-reported social anxiety updated their self-feelings more negatively after receiving negative feedback. We did not find evidence of the hypothesized influence of past experiences of online peer victimization or age on updating of self-feelings following feedback. Our study suggests that social anxiety, but not past experiences of online peer victimization or age influence how quickly negative feedback is integrated into our self-feelings. This study builds on the current knowledge base, while highlighting the need for further research into other influencing factors, such as coping strategies and resilience. These insights are important for advancing practical interventions, to better support and promote healthier updating of self-feelings in socially anxious individuals.Show less
