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

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