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CHAPTER 1 20 reactivation of the excitatory CS – US association may be a cause of relapse (Vervliet et al., 2013). By triggering danger perceptions, safety behavior may activate the excitatory CS – US association and trigger a return of fear. Does safety behavior after fear extinction promote the return of fear? INTERMEDIATE SUMMARY Safety behavior itself may provide information about the danger of a situation. Anxious individuals infer danger from safety behavior, and safety behavior exerts a causal influence on anxiety. Safety behavior may therefore contribute to the exacerbation of pathological anxiety symptoms. Hence, checking behavior, the most common safety behavior in patients with OCD, may contribute to the severity of fears in OCD. Additionally, by triggering danger perceptions, safety behavior may promote a return of fear after extinction. Safety behavior may therefore be involved in relapse after exposure therapy. APPROACH BEHAVIOR Although most safety behaviors are aimed at avoidance, certain safety behaviors may enhance approach that may otherwise not have occurred. An example is wearing gloves, goggles, and an apron during exposure to a spider (Milosevic & Radomsky, 2013a). Approach-enhancing safety behaviors may increase access to disconfirmatory evidence about the occurrence of a US, and may therefore not be detrimental to the beneficial effects of exposure. Additionally, approach is associated with positive evaluations (Chen & Bargh, 1999; Strack & Deutsch, 2004), and with the perception of safety. Anxious individuals have a tendency to infer danger from information about physiological responses (Ehlers et al., 1988), anxiety responses (Arntz et al., 1995),