On the adaptive nature of anxiety: Toward an integrative signal detection approach to the defensive emotions

Matar, Maria [UCL] Heeren, Alexandre [UCL] et al.

Aversive emotions such as anxiety supposedly serve evolutionary purposes. Although this claim is ubiquitous, the psychological sciences currently lack a theoretical framework that clearly defines the adaptive function of anxiety and comprehensively explains its underlying mechanisms. In a world where threats are increasingly diverse and unpredictable, such a framework stands to clarify the distinction between adaptive and maladaptive forms of anxiety. After briefly comparing anxiety with anger and fear, we review previous theoretical accounts of the adaptive nature of anxiety, before developing an integrative approach that draws on Signal Detection Theory to explain a broad range of processes in these three threat-related emotions. Our framework provides a mechanistic basis for interpreting and predicting outcomes related to the adaptive nature of defensive emotions with implications for future research and clinical practice.