Shame, personality, and social anxiety symptoms in Chinese and American nonclinical samples: a cross-cultural study
Authors:
- Jie ZhongJZJie Zhong
- Lili ZhangLZLili Zhang
- Jun GaoJGJun Gao
- Jianxiang YangJYJianxiang Yang
- 6 September 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in Depression and Anxiety
- Vol. 25 (5) , 449-460
Abstract
Shame has been observed to play an important role in social anxiety in China [Xu, 1982 ]. Shame and personality factors, such as neuroticism and introversion-extraversion, are also related to social anxiety symptoms in Chinese college students [Li et al., 2003 ]. The aim of this study was to explore cross-cultural differences of the effects of shame and personality on social anxiety using the Experience Scale of Shame, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale and Social Anxiety Inventory. Data were collected from both a Chinese sample (n=211, 66 males and 145 females, average ages 20.12±1.56 years) and an American sample (n=211, 66 males and 145 females, average ages 20.22±1.90 years) of college students. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed separately for the Chinese and American samples. The SEM results reveal a shame-mediating model, which is adaptive and only in the Chinese sample. This suggests that shame is a mediator between the Chinese personality and social anxiety. The shame factor did not play the same role in the American sample. This empirical study supports the hypothesis that shame has a more important effect on social anxiety in the Chinese culture compared to its effect on Americans. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–12, 2007.Keywords
This publication has 35 references indexed in Scilit:
- Taking stock of the developmental literature on shameDevelopmental Review, 2005
- Shame, guilt, and personality judgmentJournal of Research in Personality, 2004
- Examining relations between shame and personality among university students in the United States and Japan: A developmental perspectiveInternational Journal of Behavioral Development, 2001
- The relationship of shame, social anxiety and depression: the role of the evaluation of social rankClinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2000
- Personality as predictor of mental health and happiness in the East and WestPersonality and Individual Differences, 1999
- Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety11Editor’s note: This article was written before the development of some contemporary measures of social phobia, such as the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (Turner et al., 1989). We have invited this article for publication because of the growing interest in the scales described therein. S.T.Behaviour Research and Therapy, 1998
- An Investigation of Construct Validity and Generalizability of the Self-Concept:Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 1996
- Determining Constructs of Self-Perception for Children in Chinese CulturesSchool Psychology International, 1993
- Situational Detenninants of Shame and Guilt in Young AdulthoodPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1992
- Guilt, shame, and adjustment in three culturesPersonality and Individual Differences, 1987