Specific development
Investigation of the source and specific development of human anxiety is badly handicapped by technical difficulties. Sustained, accurate observation and measurement of human psychosocial development is possible only in principle, not in fact.
In terms of the cognitive component of the disorder, social phobia typically develops as a result of fear of negative evaluation and the generalization of this anxiety to one or more social situations. In other words, the perceived threat of social examination involves either shame and embarrassment.
