Threat prioritisation under limited awareness in social anxiety: a review of masking and suppression paradigms

Official URL: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2026.2689598

Social anxiety (SA) is characterised by heightened vigilance to socially evaluative threat, yet the extent to which this vigilance operates outside conscious awareness remains understudied. This review synthesises evidence from 11 studies investigating threat processing in individuals with SA or elevated SA traits, using masking and suppression paradigms to manipulate visual awareness. Across paradigms, samples, and contexts, findings on threat processing under constrained awareness in SA do not converge on a consistent effect, varying instead with paradigm-specific features, awareness level, stimulus type, and task context. Conceptual and methodological heterogeneity, particularly in the definition and assessment of awareness, limits cross-study integration. SA-related effects can be better characterised as reflecting preconscious vigilance to socially evaluative cues rather than unconscious threat processing. Masking paradigms most consistently reveal early vigilance under restricted awareness, whereas interocular suppression paradigms capture later attentional dynamics (avoidance or regulatory) as stimuli compete for conscious access. These divergences highlight the need for clearer theoretical distinctions between levels of awareness, standardised awareness checks, and attention to socially evaluative context. A refined framework conceptualising SA-related threat processing along a continuum, from preconscious vigilance to conscious avoidance, may better guide future research and improve interpretability.