Self-evaluation and self-perception: The role of attention in the experience of anxiety

Abstract

Self-awareness promotes the experience of anxiety in two ways. It does so directly, by enhancing awareness of the emotional state itself, and by initiating the self-evaluation process that is necessary for anxiety to occur. It also does so indirectly, by constraining some behaviors and inhibiting others. In particular, it increases accuracy of self-perception, and, in so doing, retards the process of self-delusion. This is important, because the latter process has been shown to have a salutary effect on mental health, acting as a buffer against dysphoric states such as depression and anxiety.