Study finds fixed mindset about first impressions eases social anxiety
Mar 1st 2026
A four-part study led by Liad Uziel finds that telling socially anxious people that others form stable first impressions reduces rumination and improves both how they feel and how they come across in brief social tasks.
- New research in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by Liad Uziel shows that believing others form stable impressions makes social interactions feel less draining for socially anxious people.
- Uziel ran one survey (n=182) and three experiments with college students (n=200, 155, 158) using short mindset manipulations to push either a fixed or growth belief about impression formation.
- When primed to believe impressions are stable, socially anxious participants performed as well as low anxiety peers on written and recorded self introductions and reported better real world conversations three days later.
- Independent raters also judged socially anxious participants as more comfortable and effective after the fixed mindset intervention, suggesting changes in observable behavior as well as feelings.
- The studies used general population samples, not clinically diagnosed patients, and measured short term effects, so longer term benefits and responses in clinical groups remain untested.