Previous research revealed an automatic behavioral bias in high socially anxious
individuals (HSAs): although their explicit evaluations of smiling faces are positive, they
show automatic avoidance of these faces. This is reflected by faster pushing than pulling of
smiling faces in an Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT; Heuer et al.,). The current study
addressed the causal role of this avoidance bias for social anxiety. To this end, we used the
AAT to train HSAs, either to approach smiling faces or to avoid them. We examined whether …

Previous research revealed an automatic behavioral bias in high socially anxious
individuals (HSAs): although their explicit evaluations of smiling faces are positive, they
show automatic avoidance of these faces. This is reflected by faster pushing than pulling of
smiling faces in an Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT; Heuer et al., 2007). The current study
addressed the causal role of this avoidance bias for social anxiety. To this end, we used the
AAT to train HSAs, either to approach smiling faces or to avoid them. We examined whether …