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Social Interaction Anxiety 6-Item Proxy Screener
Review social interaction anxiety with a disclosed six-item SIAS-6-style proxy, a 0-to-24 total, 7+ cue context, and export warnings.Social interaction anxiety proxy snapshot
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Score status
Ready
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State Ready
Input Default
Result Pending
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Assessment result details
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Share result
Share this result page with someone you trust to review your answers and result.
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Conversation friction gauge
Interaction tension ring
What this proxy suggests
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{{ proxyLane.label }} on a disclosed proxy total of {{ totalScore }}/24. {{ cueReached ? 'The run is above the published 7+ SIAS-6 screening cue.' : 'The run stays below the published 7+ SIAS-6 screening cue.' }} The strongest current friction is {{ topDrivers.length ? topDrivers[0].short.toLowerCase() : 'not yet available' }}. {{ trendSignal.detail }}
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Scoring caution
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Published cue and local lane guide
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Highest-friction situations
These items are currently carrying the most weight in the total. Start here before trying to work on every social situation at once.
Higher-scored friction and lower-scored anchors
This keeps the strongest social strain points next to the lighter items so the profile is easier to review without flattening everything into one total.
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Recommended next steps
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Current review facts
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Answer review
Answer review
The item-by-item table stays aligned with the 0 to 24 total so you can export or revisit the exact response pattern later.
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| {{ row.id }} | {{ row.text }} | {{ row.answer }} | {{ row.score }}/4 | {{ row.lane }} |
Social interaction anxiety often lives in brief, ordinary contact rather than obvious performance moments. A greeting, a group conversation, a disagreement, or a chance encounter can feel costly enough that the person rehearses, avoids, stays quiet, or leaves the situation with a long after-review. The strain is not just dislike of small talk; it can narrow work, school, errands, friendships, dating, and support-seeking.
Interaction anxiety is related to social anxiety disorder, but it is not identical to every form of social fear. Performance anxiety centers on being watched while speaking, competing, playing music, or doing another visible task. Interaction anxiety is more conversational and reciprocal. The feared moment is often the exchange itself: meeting eyes, joining a group, being alone with one person, keeping words moving, or disagreeing face to face.
- Interaction fear
- Direct social contact feels tense, uncertain, or costly even when no formal performance is happening.
- Avoidance
- The person changes plans, stays silent, delays errands, or relies on safety behaviors to get through contact.
- Functional impact
- Work, school, relationships, appointments, or daily routines become narrower because social contact takes too much effort.
Short screeners are useful because they separate a vague feeling from a pattern. A single total can show whether several interaction situations feel difficult at once, while the item-level answers show where the friction is concentrated. Someone whose strongest score is face-to-face disagreement may need assertiveness practice, while someone whose strongest score is group conversation may need a smaller first step before meetings, classes, or social plans.
The SIAS-6 is a short form of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. The official instrument has published wording and scoring guidance, including a six-item total. A paraphrased proxy can follow the same scoring frame for private reflection, but it should not be reported as an official SIAS-6 administration. The distinction matters because wording changes can affect psychometric properties, cutoffs, and clinical meaning.
A screener is only a starting point. A low score does not erase one situation that feels costly, and a high score does not diagnose social anxiety disorder. Strong avoidance, panic symptoms, missed work or school obligations, relationship strain, substance use to get through interaction, depression, or thoughts of self-harm are reasons to seek qualified support instead of relying on repeated self-checks.
How to Use This Tool:
Use the assessment for one current period or one type of social setting, then read the item pattern before choosing a next step.
- Select Begin assessment to open the six proxy statements and progress bar.
- Answer every statement on the 0 to 4 scale, from Not at all true of me through Extremely true of me. Keep the same setting in mind so the answers describe one comparable snapshot.
- If the summary does not appear, check the progress label and question navigator. The result view opens only after all six items have an answer.
- Read Social interaction anxiety proxy snapshot for the 0 to 24 total, local lane, 7+ cue status, strongest current area, and support urgency.
- Use Published cue and local lane guide to see whether the total is below, near, at, or above the 7+ orientation cue.
- Review Highest-friction situations, Interaction tension ring, and Higher-scored friction and lower-scored anchors before deciding what to practice or discuss.
- Check Answer review before copying, downloading, exporting, bookmarking, or sharing. Those outputs can preserve sensitive answer details.
Interpreting Results:
The total score is the broad signal. A total of 0 to 4 is a lower current signal, 5 or 6 sits near the cue, and 7 or more crosses the published SIAS-6 orientation cue used by this proxy. Higher totals indicate that more situations, stronger ratings, or both are contributing to the current interaction-anxiety pattern.
The local lanes after 7 are reading aids rather than diagnostic categories. A total of 13 to 18 is well above the cue, and 19 to 24 is near the top of the proxy range. Those lanes should prompt closer review when they match real avoidance, distress, missed obligations, or shrinking social routines.
Item scores explain where the total comes from. A 4/4 on disagreeing aloud suggests a different first practice target than a 4/4 on eye contact or group conversation. The highest one or two items are often more useful for exposure planning, therapy notes, or a support conversation than the total alone.
Read low scores carefully too. A total below 7 can still hide one painful situation, especially if one item is much higher than the rest. A high total can also reflect a stressful week, a narrow context, or another anxiety or mood problem. Use the answer table, cue lane, real-life impact, and any safety concerns together.
Technical Details:
The SIAS-6 and SPS-6 are paired six-item short forms. The interaction scale focuses on anxiety during direct social contact, while the social phobia scale focuses more on scrutiny and being observed. This distinction is useful because many people experience both kinds of social anxiety, but practice plans and clinical conversations can differ depending on which side is stronger.
The proxy calculation uses six forward-scored responses. Each response is an integer from 0 to 4, and each point contributes directly to the total. No reverse scoring is applied, so a higher response always means stronger endorsement of that interaction-friction item.
Formula Core
Each
| Response value | Response meaning | Points added |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Not at all true of me | 0 |
| 1 | A little true of me | 1 |
| 2 | Moderately true of me | 2 |
| 3 | Very true of me | 3 |
| 4 | Extremely true of me | 4 |
The 7+ cue comes from the published SIAS-6 short-form literature. Because the prompts here are paraphrased, that cue is best read as an orientation line. It can identify a pattern worth reviewing, but it cannot carry the same evidentiary weight as a licensed instrument using official wording under appropriate clinical conditions.
| Lane | Score range | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Lower current signal | 0 to 4 | Below the cue, with little overall friction across the six proxy items. |
| Near cue | 5 to 6 | Below 7, but close enough that context, repetition, and item pattern matter. |
| Cue crossed | 7 to 12 | The published orientation cue is crossed on this proxy run. |
| High proxy signal | 13 to 18 | The total is well above the cue and may fit avoidant routines or heavy preparation. |
| Very high proxy signal | 19 to 24 | The total is near the top of the proxy range and deserves fuller support when life is affected. |
Item-level labels keep the same 0 to 4 meaning. Scores of 2 are treated as notable friction, 3 as high friction, and 4 as very high friction. The result view ranks the strongest items as drivers and also shows lower-scored anchors so the profile does not collapse into one broad label.
The charts are visual summaries of the same answers. The gauge maps the total against the 0 to 24 range and cue bands. The tension ring keeps each item on its own 0 to 4 spoke, which helps distinguish a broad pattern from one or two concentrated problems.
Responsible Use and Privacy Notes:
This assessment is a paraphrased proxy, not a licensed SIAS-6 administration and not a diagnostic instrument. It can help organize private notes, exposure planning, therapy preparation, or a conversation with a health professional, but it should not be cited as an official score report or used as research data from the original scale.
Scoring happens in the browser after the page loads. The answer pattern is still sensitive. Copied rows, CSV downloads, DOCX exports, chart files, screenshots, bookmarks, and shared result links can reveal mental-health information.
Seek professional help promptly if social anxiety is paired with severe avoidance, panic symptoms, depression, substance use, self-harm thoughts, or inability to meet daily responsibilities. A self-screener can organize what to say, but it cannot assess risk, rule out other conditions, or choose treatment.
Worked Examples:
Near the cue. A student thinking about class discussion chooses 1 on all six items. The total is 6/24, which lands in Near cue. The result is still below 7, so the best follow-up is narrow: watch whether the same situation repeats and prepare one small participation step rather than treating every social contact as equally difficult.
Exactly at the cue. An employee answers 0 for eye contact, 3 for mixing in groups, 1 for unexpected encounters, 1 for one-to-one tension, 2 for talking feels hard, and 0 for disagreeing aloud. The total is 7/24, so the published cue is crossed. The item pattern points to group conversation first, which makes a short meeting comment or planned opener a better starting point than broad confidence advice.
High proxy signal. Someone avoiding errands and appointments answers 3, 3, 2, 3, 4, and 3. The total is 18/24, placing the result in High proxy signal. If the same pattern is causing missed appointments or daily restriction, the result is best used to prepare for fuller support rather than to continue self-scoring alone.
Missing result. A result view will not appear until all six answers are present. If the progress label is short of 6 / 6 answered, return to the unanswered item, select a response, and then check Answer review before saving or sharing the completed answer pattern.
FAQ:
Is this the official SIAS-6?
No. It uses paraphrased proxy items and the same 0 to 24 scoring frame, but it does not reproduce or administer the official wording. Treat the result as structured self-review.
Why does the result mark 7 points?
The published SIAS-6 short-form literature uses 7 or more as a cue for the interaction scale. In this proxy, crossing 7 means the pattern deserves closer review, not that a diagnosis has been made.
What if only one item is high?
Take it seriously. A low total can still include one costly situation. Use the high item as the first practice target or as a concrete example for a support conversation.
Can I compare two runs?
Compare cautiously. The runs should use the same proxy wording, a similar time frame, and a similar social context. Small differences may reflect mood, recent events, or how broadly you interpreted the statements.
Why are there two charts?
The gauge shows the total against the cue and local lanes. The tension ring keeps the six situations separate so a concentrated issue does not disappear inside the total.
Are my answers private?
Scoring is local to the loaded page, but exports, copied rows, screenshots, bookmarks, and shared result links can still expose the completed answer pattern. Handle them like private health notes.
Glossary:
- Social interaction anxiety
- Anxiety, tension, or avoidance tied to direct contact with other people, such as talking, meeting, disagreeing, or being alone with someone.
- Proxy item
- A paraphrased statement used for structured reflection rather than official instrument administration.
- Orientation cue
- The 7+ score line used to flag when the six-item proxy total has crossed the published SIAS-6 cue.
- Local lane
- A reading band such as Near cue, Cue crossed, High proxy signal, or Very high proxy signal.
- Answer pattern
- The item-by-item set of six responses that produces the total and charts.
- Exposure practice
- A planned, repeatable step that gently approaches a feared situation instead of avoiding it completely.
References:
- Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS-6) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS-6), Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, 2017.
- Development of a short form Social Interaction Anxiety (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) using nonparametric item response theory, Psychological Assessment, March 2012.
- Psychometric properties of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale in Hungarian adults and adolescents, BMC Psychiatry, 2021.
- Social Anxiety Disorder: What You Need to Know, National Institute of Mental Health.