Despite the conceptual importance of impression motivation in predicting social anxiety (Leary & Kowalski, 1995; Schlenker & Leary, 1982), no research has tested the link between impression motivation specifically regarding one's physical appearance (appearance impression motivation, or AIM) and social physique anxiety (SPA). The purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine whether AIM moderates the relationship between one's perceived physical appearance (PPA) and SPA. Consistent with previous research (e.g., Kowalski et al., 2001), the authors hypothesized that people with positive PPA would report low SPA, and those with negative PPA would report high SPA. They also expected that AIM would be positively related to SPA. However, consistent with the self-presentational theory of social anxiety, they expected a significant interaction between PPA and AIM. Specifically, they expected a strong relationship between PPA and SPA for those with high AIM; however, the strength of the relationship was expected to decline with decreasing AIM. In other words, the less one cares about making a desired impression regarding his or her physique or body, the less one's perception of his or her appearance, either positive or negative, will influence SPA. (Contains 2 notes, 2 tables, and 1 figure.)