Process-Informed Psychological Profiles in Social Anxiety: A Multidimensional Person-Centered Analysis

Purpose Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is heterogeneous, yet person-centered studies often examine limited domains. We examined whether clinically significant social anxiety could be characterized by multidimensional psychological profiles spanning symptoms, transdiagnostic distress, regulatory processes, motivational systems, and personality. Accordingly, we treated the resulting profiles as provisional dimensional configurations rather than as diagnostic categories or treatment-selection rules. Methods Hierarchical and k-means cluster analyses were applied to 412 adults, from more than 40 countries, scoring above a conservative LSAS-SR self-report threshold for broad, clinically elevated social anxiety symptoms. Twenty standardized indicators were included. Robustness was examined using split-sample replication, cross-subsample exclusion tests, geometric separation indices, and latent profile analysis. External validity was evaluated using clinical thresholds, impairment, lifetime diagnosis history, and demographic correlates. An exploratory 12-item approximation model was also tested. Results A four-profile solution was retained: Severe–Internalizing , Sociable–Distressed , Withdrawn–Low Drive , and Low Symptom–Stable . Profiles differed across all 20 indicators, with large effects on 19 of them. Validation procedures provided meaningful but uneven support, with stronger separation for Severe–Internalizing and Low Symptom–Stable, and less consistent differentiation among intermediate profiles. External validators showed distinct patterns of clinical burden, impairment, and diagnostic history. An exploratory 12-item model showed preliminary same-sample approximation of profile membership, but requires external validation. Conclusions Clinically significant social anxiety may be organized into multidimensional profiles that reflect both severity and broader configurations of distress, regulation, motivation, and personality. These profiles may help generate assessment hypotheses, but clinical use requires replication in larger, diagnostically verified, longitudinal, and more culturally representative samples.