In Study 1, state anxiety of socially anxious people, compared to non-anxious people, was examined in computer-mediated communication (CMC) and face-to-face communication (FTF). In Study 2, factors that potentially influenced the occurrence of state communication anxiety: self-presentation efficacy, public and private self-awareness, state self-esteem, feeling of rejection, and relationship cognition, were examined to find out whether they were different between CMC and FTF. Results indicated that although state anxiety in CMC was lower than that in FTF, socially anxious people felt higher state anxiety than non-anxious people, and regarded relationship with others as negative, in both communication situations. Based on the findings, social anxiety as an early warning system and its conceptualization of perceived relationship with others were discussed.

Key words: trait social anxiety, state social anxiety, computer-mediated communication, relationship with others