A study of social anxiety among Japanese working adults

• Main Author: Kobayashi, Michiyo
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Social phobia; Anxiety; Self-presentation; Social phobia in Adult > Japanese; Counseling; Counselor Education
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3232; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10070&context=etd_masteral
• Institution: De La Salle University

The major purpose of this study was to examine the association between social anxiety and self-construal among Japanese adults including an investigation of gender and age differences vis-Ã -vis social anxiety. One hundred thirty-six Japanese office workers (male = 84, female = 52) working in the Philippines and in Japan, ranging in age from 20 to 54 years participated in the study. The researcher administrated the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale to measure the level of social anxiety. The Self-Construal Scale was employed to assess independent and interdependent tendency of the self. Correlation, t-test and regression statistics were applied to analyze the data. Of the respondents, ten (male = 5, female = 5) participated in the semi-structured interviews conducted to obtain in-depth information about actual experiences of social anxiety. The results revealed that the independent self-construal was significantly negatively correlated with both social anxiety scales. The interdependent self-construal and gender did not have a significant influence on social anxiety. Age was significantly negatively correlated with the fear of negative evaluation. Independent self-construal was the best predictor of social anxiety compared to the other variables considered in the study. The findings of the interviews supported the results of the quantitative research. The study implied that independence and individuality lower the level of social anxiety, and that the individuals become less socially anxious as they grow older.