Aims. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and empathy. Based on EEG ERP technique, we examined how socially anxious individuals process empathy for pain in relation to perspective taken. Methods. The ERP procedure involved images depicting hands in painful and neutral situations, after which participants evaluated the degree of perceived painfulness and unpleasantness of the stimuli. The study was divided into blocks, each preceding with the instruction to take first-person perspective (FPP) or third-person perspectives (TPP). Participants (N=65) completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (measure of empathy as a trait).Results. SA was positively correlated with measures of empathy as a trait (Empathic Concern, Personal Distress, Fantasy), except for the Perspective Taking subscale. Within the experimental task, SA showed negative correlations with P3b amplitude and positive correlation with perceived painfulness of stimuli, but only within FPP. In Highly Socially Anxious (HSA) individuals, perceived pain was related to the amplitude of the late components (P3a, P3b, LPP), but only within TPP.Conclusions. The study provides evidence for differences in empathic reaction as a function of SA levels, related to the perspective taken. Given the association of late components with cognitive demand and attention, we suggest that the HSA group may engage additional effort redirecting self-processing patterns toward consideration of others' perspectives, additionally dependent on the valence of stimuli. Moreover, higher levels of perceived painfulness and unpleasantness, exclusively for FPP, confirm heightened sensitivity in self-processing seen in HSA.