Murray State Theses and Dissertations
Abstract
This study examined humorous facial disguise in relation to social anxiety during a speech task. Social anxiety is characterized by a strong desire to present a positive image of oneself to others, while simultaneously doubting one’s ability to do so (Clark & Wells, 1995). Performance anxiety is a subtype of social anxiety that affects individuals in various performative contexts, to include public speaking. Previous research has examined the relationship between social anxiety and facial concealment through face-masking (Karimi 2024; Saint & Moscovitch, 2021), concluding that facial concealment can serve as a safety behavior intended to reduce social anxiety. Further, humor has been found to be a useful coping mechanism to aid in stressful situations. Participants’ levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety were measured before and after a speech task. It was hypothesized that participants who wore a pair of Groucho glasses during a speech task would report lower levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety compared to those participants who wore a pair of nonprescription glasses, or those who wore no glasses (H1) (self-confidence was also examined in the form of a research question). The results indicate that levels of somatic anxiety were not correlated with the manipulation. With respect to levels of cognitive anxiety, this form of anxiety was not significantly lower in the Groucho group compared to the other groups. However, the discrepancy between pre- and posttest scores was largest in the Groucho group, lending partial support to the hypothesis. Additionally, the Groucho group was the only group to report an increase in self-confidence from pre- to posttest, lending support to the research question.
Year manuscript completed
2025
Year degree awarded
2025
Author's Keywords
performance anxiety, social anxiety, disguise, humor, safety behaviors
Degree Awarded
Master of Science
Department
Psychology
College/School
College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Thesis Advisor
Daniel Wann
Committee Chair
Daniel Wann
Committee Member
Patrick Cushen
Committee Member
Jana Hackathorn
Committee Member
David Eaton
Document Type
Thesis
Recommended Citation
Pearsall, Jordan, "Master of Disguise: Humor, Disguise, and Performance Anxiety" (2025). Murray State Theses and Dissertations. 388.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/etd/388