The role of death fears and attachment processes in social anxiety: a novel hypothesis explored

Objective: Research suggests an association between the fear of death and social anxiety, but the mechanisms through which these constructs are related remain unclear. From a socio-evolutionary perspective, abandonment and rejection are associated with premature death, and appraisals of the importance of social relationships for maintaining survival are influenced by one's upbringing, reflected in individual differences in attachment patterns. We thus explored whether different attachment dimensions mediated the relationship between death anxiety and social anxiety to differing degrees, according to the value afforded by these dimensions to the importance of relationships for survival. Method: Self-report data on death anxiety, social anxiety, and two dimensions of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) was collected from 93 participants with varying levels of social anxiety. Results: Supporting the hypotheses, there was an indirect effect of death anxiety on social anxiety via attachment anxiety, even when fear of own death and fear of other's death were analysed separately. No indirect effect via attachment avoidance was observed. Conclusions: These results clarify the mechanisms underpinning the association between social anxiety and the fear of death, and suggest that a socio-evolutionary framework provides utility in better understanding these clinical constructs.