Multiple sources of evidence suggest that problematic social anxiety should be related to attempts to hide aspects of the self from others, but no specific measures are available to assess this phenomenon. A self-report measure, the Core Extrusion Schema measure (CES) was developed to measure aspects of self-concealment that should be related to social anxiety, including perceived present rejection, belief that one’s true self would be socially rejected, attempts to hide one’s true self, and attempts to avoid scrutiny. In two studies with undergraduates (ns = 383 and 79), the CES was found to have good psychometric properties and relate to social anxiety as predicted. Some evidence of relation to interpersonal dysfunction above and beyond social anxiety was also observed. The CES therefore offers one avenue to assess a potential core cognitive component of impairing social anxiety, as well as the interpersonal effects of such anxiety.
