A fresh wave of psychological research questions a long-held belief about anxiety: that anxious individuals are doomed to fixate on danger. A study featured in Cognition & Emotion and summarized by PsyPost shows that people with high anxiety can disengage from threatening stimuli just as effectively as those with low anxiety when motivation is strong. This insight could influence how health professionals in Thailand and beyond diagnose and treat anxiety-related conditions.
For years, experts believed that higher anxiety made it harder to divert attention away from danger signals, fostering constant hyper-vigilance. This idea underpins many cognitive theories and therapies, including attentional bias modification, which aims to help anxious people redirect focus. In Thailand, where mental health is increasingly recognised as a public health priority, and where cultural notions of samruaj (calmness) may discourage open discussion of distress, understanding attention and anxiety is especially important.
The UK-led study involved more than 500 participants across three experiments, exploring whether the link between anxiety and attentional fixation reflects an involuntary deficit or can be shaped by motivation. Researchers used eye-tracking, Pavlovian conditioning, and reaction-time tasks to compare high- and low-anxiety individuals’ ability to disengage from threat cues when motivated by punishment (aversive noises) or reward (monetary incentives).
In the first experiment, 142 university students learned to associate differently colored circles with loud noises or no consequence. When asked to quickly shift their gaze from a threatening cue to a distant target, with the risk of punishment for slow responses, participants were slower to disengage from the threat. Crucially, this slowing did not depend on anxiety level; both high- and low-anxiety groups showed similar disengagement under punishment conditions. Analyses found no evidence that anxiety heightened difficulty when strong motivation to disengage was present.
Subsequent experiments replaced circles with human faces showing anger or fear, and with images of snakes or spiders. In half of the trials, participants earned monetary rewards for fast responses. Again, anxiety did not predict longer dwell times on threats, regardless of the stimulus. A broader pattern emerged: all participants showed slower disengagement in response to snakes and spiders, perhaps reflecting ancient evolutionary tendencies, but this effect did not correlate with anxiety scores.
Experts say the findings could reshape treatment approaches. Lead authors note that their data imply the supposed automatic threat fixation in anxious individuals may depend more on context and stimulus type than on anxiety itself. “We found no consistent evidence that high anxiety leads to delayed disengagement from threat when strong motivational incentives are present,” they say. The idea is supported by other researchers who have shown attentional biases in anxiety can be modulated by task demands and goals.
In Thailand, these results carry particular resonance. Mental health remains a culturally sensitive topic, with many people reluctant to seek help due to stigma or concerns about social judgment. Yet Thai studies consistently show rising anxiety levels among students and office workers coping with academic pressure and economic uncertainty. The traditional view of anxious individuals as locked in hypervigilance has sometimes led to uniform approaches to treatment. The new evidence suggests more nuanced, motivation-driven strategies could be more effective.
Thai mental health care has historically leaned on social support and, more recently, mindfulness-based practices rooted in Buddhist traditions. Mindfulness emphasizes disciplined attention and awareness—concepts closely related to disengagement from distressing stimuli. If motivation matters as the new findings indicate, mindfulness programs could be enhanced with engaging, outcome-driven components to maintain participation, especially for younger audiences.
Globally and in Thailand, the study invites a rethink of therapeutic tools like attentional bias modification. If motivation can override threat pull, interventions may benefit from integrating rewards, gamified elements, or competitive components to sustain engagement in digital mental health programs. This approach could complement cognitive-behavioral strategies and help reduce dropout rates in Thai clinical settings.
The study carefully differentiates disengagement from initial orientation to threat, a nuance that clarifies past ambiguities. However, researchers acknowledge that laboratory threats—a colored circle, a face, or a snake—may not map perfectly onto real-world Thai experiences. Local factors, such as exam anxiety, financial stress, or interpersonal tensions, will shape how these findings translate into practice.
Future work could explore how culturally salient stressors affect attention and anxiety in Thai society. There is also interest in translating these insights into schools, workplaces, and clinics, where digital mental health tools—ranging from mindfulness apps to online counseling—continue to expand. Ongoing research will help ensure interventions remain relevant and effective for Thai communities.
For individuals, the takeaway is hopeful: having anxiety does not automatically doom one to dwell on threat. Context, motivation, and engagement can influence responses to potential dangers in daily life, whether on the street, at school, or at work. Thai practitioners may find that motivation-enhanced mindfulness and culturally attuned techniques offer promising avenues for support.
Those seeking help with anxiety in Thailand can consult trusted sources such as the Department of Mental Health, Thailand, and national mental health platforms endorsed by Thai psychiatric associations. As research evolves, staying informed empowers people, families, and organizations to approach anxiety with resilience, not resignation.