Social Anxiety in University Students

Rowman & Littlefield Education. 4501 Forbes Boulevard Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706. Tel: 800-462-6420; Tel: 717-794-3800; Fax: 800-338-4550; Fax: 717-794-3803; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.rowman.com/page/Journals

Y

10

Interpersonal Relationship; Interaction; Foreign Countries; Communication Skills; Anxiety; College Students; Gender Differences; Self Esteem; Interpersonal Communication; Correlation; Cross Cultural Studies; Psychological Patterns

Self Esteem Inventory; UCLA Loneliness Scale

1056-7879

Social anxiety occurs when people feel doubtful about their particular impressions, real or imaginary, on others. Social anxiety, as denoted by its name, is a situation that arises in social settings as an outcome of interpersonal relationships. What lies in the basis of social anxiety is the fear of being evaluated by others as inadequate. Social anxiety is a factor that is likely to impose adverse effects on the life of the individual and distort social interaction, especially in cases where it occurs at a certain frequency, intensity, and severity; therefore, there is a need to take the initiative to recognize and follow up on anxiety. These initiatives are especially important for young people who are getting ready for life by means of psychological counseling. This study focused on students attending a higher education program and collected evidence by means of self-report regarding their frequency and severity of social anxiety. The study sought answers to the following questions: (1) To what extent is social anxiety spread among the participants of this study?; (2) What is the situation of these students in Turkey with respect to social anxiety as compared with students in other countries?; (3) Regarding the data gathered for this study, what are the correlations between gender, self-esteem, communication skills, and social anxiety?; and (4) Are there any significant differences between the situation in Turkey and that in the other countries with respect to the correlations among these variables? In this study, evidence was obtained that implied a relationship in the expected direction between self-esteem, loneliness, communication skills, and social anxiety as manifested by the correlations, indicating the existence of social anxiety to the same extent among the students in Turkey attending a higher education institution that is among their first choices. (Contains 6 tables.)

ERIC

41

2009

EJ846895