Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS-SR) Assessment

Quick 24-situation check-in for fear and avoidance across common social situations during the past week.

Answer both the fear and avoidance parts for every situation.
Keep each rating tied to what the situation felt like and how much you avoided it during the past week.
Your responses stay only in this browser and are never uploaded.

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Fear / anxiety:

Avoidance:

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Anchor gauge

Subscale scoreboard

Anchor ladder

Situation pressure map

Social load brief

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Review next

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Current context

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Higher-load situations vs lighter anchors

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Subscale	Fear	Avoidance	Total	Share of max	Copy
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Monitoring lens

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Reference	Range	Status	How to read it	Copy
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#	Highest-load situations	Total	Copy
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Pattern cues

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Approach openings

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Answer review

Exports keep the original item wording with the selected fear and avoidance ratings so you can review the pattern outside the browser if needed.

#	Situation	Domain	Fear	Avoidance	Total	Pattern	Copy
{{ row.id }}	{{ row.text }}	{{ row.domainLabel }}	{{ row.fearLabel }}	{{ row.avoidanceLabel }}	{{ row.total }}/6	{{ row.patternLabel }}

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Social anxiety is more than feeling shy before a speech. It can shape whether someone makes a phone call, enters a room, speaks in a meeting, eats where others can see them, returns an item to a shop, or disagrees with a person they do not know well. The visible choice may look ordinary from the outside, while the private cost can include rehearsal, dread, body symptoms, escape plans, or staying away completely.

The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale self-report version, often shortened to LSAS-SR, uses 24 everyday social and performance situations to separate two related questions. One question is how much fear or anxiety the situation brings. The other is how often the situation is avoided. That split is important because distress and avoidance do not always move together.

Fear or anxiety: The amount of distress attached to a situation, scored from none to severe.
Avoidance: How often the situation is skipped, delayed, delegated, shortened, or otherwise avoided.
Performance situations: Situations where a person may be watched, judged, tested, or expected to speak or act in front of others.
Interaction situations: Situations involving conversation, strangers, authority, eye contact, disagreement, asking, returning, hosting, or setting a boundary.

A person who keeps attending feared situations may report high fear with lower avoidance. Another person may report less fear because daily life has already been rearranged to prevent exposure. The total score matters, but the pattern explains what that total is made of and where a practical review should begin.

The LSAS-SR is a self-report snapshot, not a diagnosis. A high result can support a conversation about social anxiety disorder, but clinical judgment also considers duration, impairment, panic, depression, trauma, substance use, medical factors, culture, and whether the same pattern has persisted beyond one difficult week.

A low total can still miss a narrow but costly problem. One usually avoided situation may affect work, study, health care, relationships, or daily errands even when most other situations feel manageable.

How to Use This Tool:

Use one recall frame for the whole assessment. The on-page prompt uses the past week, so keep every answer tied to that period unless a clinician, study protocol, or care plan tells you to use another frame.

Select Begin assessment to open the 24 situation sequence.
For each situation, choose one Fear / anxiety rating from None to Severe.
Choose the matching Avoidance rating from Never to Usually. A situation is complete only after both ratings are present.
Use the progress bar, progress label, and situation navigator to find any missing pair. The final report appears only when the progress reaches 24 / 24 situations answered.
Read Social anxiety snapshot first for the Total score, anchor label, 30-point badge, 60-point badge, selected lens, and performance or interaction profile.
Compare Fear total, Avoidance total, Performance load, and Interaction load before using the chart views.
Review Higher-load situations vs lighter anchors, the subscale table, threshold rows, and Answer review before copying a result link or saving outputs.

If a situation did not happen during the week, answer from the closest recent experience or the most realistic past-week response, then treat that item as less certain when sharing the result.

Interpreting Results:

Total score is the main LSAS-SR number. Scores from 0 to 29 stay below the 30-point screening anchor, scores from 30 to 59 reach the screening range, and scores from 60 to 144 reach the generalized-range anchor used in cutoff research.

Below 30 anchor means the total did not reach the screening anchor. It does not erase severe or usually avoided individual situations.
30-59 screening range means the result deserves closer review alongside impairment, duration, avoidance, and daily restriction.
60+ generalized range suggests a broader pattern across social or performance situations, especially when several items and both subscale groups are elevated.

Fear and avoidance totals explain the shape behind the total. Fear running ahead of avoidance can mean the person is still entering situations while paying a high internal cost. Avoidance running ahead of fear can mean life has already narrowed around the anxiety.

Performance load and interaction load point to different practical follow-up. A performance-leaning profile fits pressure around being watched, tested, or expected to speak. An interaction-leaning profile fits pressure around strangers, authority, eye contact, disagreement, errands, or boundaries. A mixed profile means neither side explains the result alone.

Do not treat any anchor as a diagnosis. If the result is surprising, verify the highest Answer review rows, the Situation pressure map, and real-world changes in participation before deciding what the score means.

Technical Details:

The LSAS-SR is an additive rating scale. Each of the 24 situations receives two integer ratings: fear or anxiety from 0 to 3 and avoidance from 0 to 3. One situation can therefore contribute 0 to 6 points, and the full total ranges from 0 to 144.

The score can also be split by situation type. Thirteen situations are treated as performance or observation situations, while eleven are treated as social interaction or assertiveness situations. These are profile views, not separate diagnoses.

Formula Core

\begin{array}{rcl} T_{fear} & = & \sum_{i = 1}^{24} F_{i} \\ T_{avoid} & = & \sum_{i = 1}^{24} A_{i} \\ T_{total} & = & T_{fear} + T_{avoid} \end{array}

In the formula, F is the fear or anxiety rating for one situation and A is the avoidance rating for that same situation. If the 24 fear ratings sum to 34 and the 24 avoidance ratings sum to 28, the LSAS-SR total is 62 out of 144.

LSAS-SR score construction
Score part	Construction rule	Range	Reading cue
Fear total	Sum of all 24 fear or anxiety ratings	0 to 72	Higher values mean stronger reported distress across the situation set.
Avoidance total	Sum of all 24 avoidance ratings	0 to 72	Higher values mean more frequent behavior restriction.
Performance load	Fear plus avoidance across 13 performance situations	0 to 78	Public speaking, observation, tests, and being watched carry more of the score when this is high.
Interaction load	Fear plus avoidance across 11 interaction situations	0 to 66	Strangers, authority, eye contact, disagreement, errands, and boundaries carry more of the score when this is high.
Item total	Fear plus avoidance for one situation	0 to 6	The highest item totals identify the situations most worth reviewing.

LSAS-SR anchor boundaries
Anchor range	Inclusive total	Boundary rule	Interpretation limit
Below 30 anchor	0 to 29	Totals under 30 remain below the screening anchor.	Specific avoided situations can still matter.
30-59 screening range	30 to 59	30 is included in the screening range.	Further assessment may be useful, but the score is not diagnostic by itself.
60+ generalized range	60 to 144	60 is included in the generalized-range anchor.	Clinical context still decides whether the pattern matches generalized social anxiety.

Profile labels use simple difference rules. Performance-leaning appears when performance load is at least 8 points higher than interaction load. Interaction-leaning appears when interaction load is at least 8 points higher than performance load. Smaller differences are labeled Mixed profile.

A prior total, when present, is used only for comparison. A drop of 28% or more from that prior total is flagged as a response-style improvement signal because LSAS-SR response research has used that size of reduction. The current total and anchor range still stand on their own.

Advanced Tips:

Compare fear and avoidance before focusing on the total. A similar total can represent active distress, heavy avoidance, or a balanced mix.
Use the Situation pressure map to identify the highest item totals, then check whether those situations are frequent or important in current life.
When comparing against a prior total, keep the recall frame and life context similar. Exam week, travel, illness, or unusually low social demand can change the score without meaning the broader pattern changed.
Use the profile split to choose follow-up examples. Performance-leaning results call for different review situations than interaction-leaning results.
Before sharing a copied link or exported answer ledger, remember that individual mental-health answers can be more sensitive than the final total.

Limitations and Privacy Notes:

The LSAS-SR is a screening and monitoring aid for social anxiety symptoms. It cannot diagnose social anxiety disorder, choose treatment, or explain every reason someone avoids a situation.

Answers depend on memory, recent opportunities, and willingness to report distress and avoidance honestly.
A one-week snapshot can shift after exams, deadlines, travel, illness, conflict, medication changes, or unusually low social demand.
Diagnosis considers duration, impairment, other mental or physical health conditions, medication, substance use, culture, and safety risk.
Scoring happens in the browser and answers are not uploaded for scoring. Copied links and downloaded outputs can still contain sensitive answer details after you create or share them.
Severe distress, panic, depression, trauma symptoms, substance misuse, safety concerns, or shrinking daily participation deserve qualified support even when the score is below an anchor.

Worked Examples:

Below 30 with one costly situation

Social anxiety snapshot shows 24/144 and Below 30 anchor. In Situation pressure map, speaking up at a meeting is 5/6 while most other situations are 0 or 1. The total stays below the screening anchor, but that meeting situation still deserves attention if it affects school, work, or participation.

Screening range with avoidance ahead

A result of 46/144 reaches 30-59 screening range. If Avoidance total is 31/72 and Fear total is 15/72, the result points less to visible panic and more to daily life being shaped around avoided situations.

Generalized-range anchor with mixed pressure

Total score is 68/144, Performance load is 36/78, and Interaction load is 32/66. The result reaches 60+ generalized range, and the profile remains mixed because both situation groups are contributing.

Prior total with partial improvement

A prior total of 88/144 and a current total of 62/144 is a drop of about 30%, so the monitoring badge can show an improvement signal. The current Anchor range still matters because 62 remains in 60+ generalized range.

Report not appearing

If the progress label shows 23 / 24 situations answered, one fear-and-avoidance pair is missing. Open the situation without the completion check, answer both ratings, then return to Social anxiety snapshot and Answer review.

FAQ:

Does a score below 30 rule out social anxiety disorder?

No. It only means the total stayed below the screening anchor used by the tool. A few severe or usually avoided situations can still affect daily life.

Why are fear and avoidance scored separately?

Fear shows the distress attached to a situation, while avoidance shows behavior restriction. They can diverge, so the split can explain the same total more clearly.

What does the 60-point anchor mean?

A total of 60 or higher reaches the generalized-range anchor used in LSAS-SR cutoff research. It is a strong review cue, not a diagnosis by itself.

Why did I answer most questions but get no report?

Every situation needs both a fear rating and an avoidance rating. Use the progress label and situation navigator to find the missing pair.

Can I compare today's total with an older result?

Yes, when the recall frame and scoring version are comparable. The prior-total comparison is descriptive and does not change the current LSAS-SR anchor range.

Are my answers uploaded for scoring?

No. Scoring runs in the browser. Copied result links and downloaded outputs can still carry sensitive answers after you choose to create them.

Glossary:

LSAS-SR: The self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale.
Fear total: The sum of all 24 fear or anxiety ratings, from 0 to 72.
Avoidance total: The sum of all 24 avoidance ratings, from 0 to 72.
Performance load: The combined fear and avoidance score for performance and observation situations.
Interaction load: The combined fear and avoidance score for social interaction and assertiveness situations.
Item total: The fear plus avoidance score for one situation, from 0 to 6.
Screening anchor: A cutoff used to flag results that deserve closer assessment rather than stand-alone diagnosis.
Generalized range: The 60+ LSAS-SR range associated with a broader pattern across social anxiety situations.

References:

The Liebowitz social anxiety scale as a self-report instrument: a preliminary psychometric analysis, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2002.
Screening for social anxiety disorder with the self-report version of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Depression and Anxiety, 2009.
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS): Optimal cut points for remission and response, Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2018.
Social Anxiety Disorder: What You Need to Know, National Institute of Mental Health, revised 2025.
Social anxiety disorder: assessment and diagnosis for adults, NICE, 2013.