Research at Conquer Social Anxiety
Conquer Social Anxiety is an educational platform dedicated to helping people understand social anxiety with clarity, compassion, and scientific honesty.
CSA is also informed by psychological research on social anxiety: why it develops, why it can look different from person to person, what keeps it going, and how a better understanding may support more precise assessment, education, and care.
The goal is not to turn research into cold academic language. It is to translate psychological science into careful, accessible education that helps people make sense of their experiences without oversimplifying them.
Important distinction
CSA itself is not a university or clinical research institution. Research projects associated with Martin Stork are conducted with academic collaborators through the appropriate academic, ethical, and institutional channels.
Why research matters to CSA
Social anxiety is often misunderstood. It may be dismissed as shyness, reduced to low confidence, confused with introversion, or treated as if every person experiences it in the same way.
Research can help correct these misunderstandings.
It allows CSA to ask better questions: What are people actually afraid will happen in social situations? Why do some people mainly fear visible anxiety symptoms, while others fear seeming awkward, being rejected, offending others, or losing status? How might avoidance, safety behaviors, shame, rumination, emotional suppression, alcohol use, or self-criticism shape the course of social anxiety over time?
Research also keeps CSA humble. Evidence changes. Findings have limits. Not every question has a clear answer. CSA aims to communicate what is known, what appears likely, what remains uncertain, and where more research is needed.
Research focus
CSA’s research-related work centers on several overlapping themes.
Why social anxiety looks different from person to person
People with social anxiety often share a fear of negative evaluation, but the form this fear takes can vary widely.
Some people mainly fear behaving awkwardly or foolishly. Others fear visible signs of anxiety, such as blushing, shaking, sweating, or a trembling voice. Others worry about offending people, being rejected, appearing weak, or not knowing how to belong.
CSA is especially interested in these individual differences because they may help explain why social anxiety does not always look the same from the outside and why people may benefit from different forms of support.
Psychological processes that keep social anxiety going
CSA’s work also focuses on processes that may maintain social anxiety, including avoidance, safety behaviors, anxiety sensitivity, experiential avoidance, self-focused attention, rumination, shame, emotional suppression, and difficulties expressing anger or asserting needs.
These processes matter because social anxiety is not only a set of symptoms. It can also involve patterns of learning, prediction, protection, and emotional regulation that become deeply woven into a person’s identity and relationships.
Social anxiety in real life
Social anxiety does not exist only in therapy manuals or diagnostic interviews. It can affect relationships, education, work, dating, alcohol use, identity, belonging, conflict, and the ability to participate freely in life.
CSA is interested in research that connects social anxiety with everyday functioning and lived experience while remaining scientifically careful.
Toward more precise support
A long-term goal is to understand whether more detailed assessment of social anxiety could support more individualized care.
This does not mean reducing people to labels or rigid subtypes. It means asking whether different patterns of fear, avoidance, emotional regulation, motivation, and impairment can help clinicians, researchers, and affected individuals ask more useful questions.
Selected publications
The following peer-reviewed publications reflect Martin Stork’s academic work and some of the research themes that inform CSA’s educational direction.
Differences in Anxiety Sensitivity and Experiential Avoidance Between Subtypes of Social Anxiety Disorder
Martin Stork, Mariantonia Lemos, and Juan Pablo Román-Calderón. Published in PLOS ONE in 2023.
This study examined whether people whose social anxiety centers on different feared outcomes also differ in psychological processes such as anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance. It reflects CSA’s broader interest in understanding how social anxiety may vary from person to person.
Mean to an End: Differentiating Externalizing Presentations of Social Anxiety From Antisocial Personality Disorder
Martin Stork. Published in Practice Innovations in 2026.
This clinical article explores how some people with social anxiety may appear aloof, sarcastic, emotionally flat, irritable, or oppositional. It proposes considering whether such behaviors may sometimes function as shame-related defensive strategies rather than automatically interpreting them as signs of antisocial personality pathology.
Identity on Trial: Legitimacy-Focused Invalidation and Social Anxiety in Bisexual and Nonbinary People
Daniela Fumega and Martin Stork. Published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2026.
This opinion article considers how identity invalidation and minority stress may contribute to social anxiety in bisexual and nonbinary people. It connects social-evaluative threat with belonging, legitimacy, rejection sensitivity, and the psychological effects of repeatedly having one’s identity questioned or dismissed.
Current research directions
Several additional research articles are currently in peer review or development.
These projects examine topics such as emotional suppression and anger in social anxiety, alcohol-related harm, different psychological patterns among people with social anxiety, and patterns of feared and avoided social situations.
Why some details are not listed yet
Because some manuscripts are still under peer review, CSA does not list journal names or detailed study claims before publication. Once research is accepted and publicly available, this page will be updated.
Research background and collaborations
CSA’s research-related work is led by Martin Stork, founder and editor of Conquer Social Anxiety.
Martin holds a psychology degree from EAFIT University in Colombia and a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy for Adults from the University of Minho in Portugal. He is currently a Research Fellow at the School of Psychology at the University of Minho and continues to collaborate on research projects with EAFIT University.
His research focuses on social anxiety, especially why it can look different from person to person, which psychological processes may maintain it, and how better assessment may support a more precise understanding of people’s experiences and care needs.
You can learn more about Martin’s background on the About Martin Stork page.
Open science and transparency
CSA values open science, preregistration, transparent reporting, and making research as accessible as possible.
At the same time, not every study can be made fully open access. Open-access publishing, data sharing, and publicly available research materials depend on journal policies, ethics approval, participant consent, privacy considerations, and publication costs.
CSA is committed to being as transparent as possible about research methods, limitations, conflicts of interest, funding, and uncertainty. When research materials, preregistrations, analysis scripts, or open-access versions are available, this page will link to them where appropriate.
How CSA interprets evidence
For more about how CSA interprets research findings, treatment claims, and uncertainty, see the Evidence Standards.
Participate in research
From time to time, CSA may share opportunities to participate in ethically reviewed research studies on social anxiety.
When an appropriate study is recruiting participants, information may be posted on this page or shared with the CSA mailing list. Participation is always voluntary. Before deciding whether to take part, prospective participants should receive information about the study, including its eligibility criteria, consent process, privacy arrangements, and ethical oversight.
Participation is always voluntary
Research invitations shared by CSA should never feel like pressure. A person should participate only after reading the study information and freely deciding that they want to take part.
Current recruitment status
If no individual study is listed in this section, CSA is not currently advertising an open recruitment opportunity here.
Academic collaboration
CSA welcomes thoughtful academic collaboration related to social anxiety, psychological mechanisms, assessment, cross-cultural research, online psychoeducation, and the communication of psychological knowledge.
Researchers, clinicians, students, and academic institutions interested in collaboration can get in touch through the contact page.
Continue Learning
These pages explain how CSA creates, evaluates, and communicates its educational content.
Learn more about Martin’s background in clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and social anxiety research.
Understand how CSA evaluates research findings, treatment claims, and levels of certainty.
Learn how CSA content is written, reviewed, and kept responsible.
Read more about CSA’s purpose, scope, and educational mission.
CSA provides educational information—not emergency support and not a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment, or psychotherapy. If you are in immediate danger or experiencing an acute crisis, contact an appropriate local service immediately. For more information, see Crisis Help and the Medical and Mental Health Disclaimer.