Generality of the interaction model of anxiety with respect to two social evaluation field studies.

Abstract
Two field studies involving academic examinations and the on-the-job stresses encountered by corporate executives were carried out to test the interaction model of anxiety. It was initially assumed that both of these stressful events would be perceived as primarily socially evaluative in nature. For both studies, it wsa predicted that high social evaluation trait anxiety research participants would experience significantly greater state anxiety changes (i.e., between stress and non-stress conditions) than their low social evaluation trait anxiety counterparts. It was also expected that in both studies the state anxiety changes reported by high and low interpersonal, physical danger, ambiguous and innocuous trait anxiety research participants would not differ significantly, since these 4 trait anxiety dimensions were not congruent with the social evaluation situations investigated here. While the predicted relationships between trait anxiety, state anxiety and situational stress were confirmed, only moderate support for the interaction model of anxiety was found because research participants did not strongly endorse the initial assumption that the stressful situations would be perceived as primarily socially evaluative. The apparent discrepancy between situation perception and the state anxiety levels of high and low social evaluation trait anxiety research participants was discussed in terms of differential responsiveness to congruent situational elements with various trait anxiety groups.
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