Social anxiety, a common mental health concern, can be greatly influenced by an individual’s perceived social support.
Those with strong, supportive relationships often report lower levels of social anxiety, as they feel more secure and accepted in social situations. Conversely, individuals who lack a robust support system may experience heightened anxiety due to feelings of isolation and fear of negative evaluation.
Developing social skills and building a reliable support network can be crucial for managing social anxiety. Improving communication abilities, assertiveness, and emotional expression can help individuals navigate social interactions more confidently and effectively.
Moreover, having trusted friends, family members, or a therapist to provide encouragement, validation, and a safe space to practice social skills can be invaluable in reducing anxiety and fostering a sense of belonging.
Barnett, M. D., Maciel, I. V., Johnson, D. M., & Ciepluch, I. (2021). Social anxiety and perceived social support: Gender differences and the mediating role of communication styles. Psychological Reports, 124(1), 70-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119900975
Key Points
- Social anxiety is associated with lower perceived social support among both men and women.
- Communication styles mediate the relationship between social anxiety and perceived social support, but the specific communication styles involved differ by gender.
- For both men and women, lower expressiveness explains some of the link between social anxiety and lower perceived social support.
- For men, lower preciseness also mediates the relationship between social anxiety and perceived social support. For women, lower verbal aggressiveness and higher emotionality play mediating roles.
- The study has limitations like using self-report measures and a predominantly female college student sample, but provides insights into how socially anxious individuals may be able to increase perceived social support through modifying communication styles.
Rationale
Social anxiety is one of the most common anxiety disorders (Kessler et al., 2012) and has been linked to lower perceived social support (Calsyn et al., 2005; Davidson et al., 1994; Torgrud et al., 2004).
While the size of one’s social network influences perceived social support, other factors like satisfaction with available support matter more (Sarason et al., 1983).
Among women in relationships, self-disclosure helps explain the social anxiety-perceived support link (Cuming & Rapee, 2010), suggesting interpersonal communication plays a role.
However, more research is needed on how communication styles impact the relationship between social anxiety and perceived support, and potential gender differences.
Previous studies found socially anxious individuals are less emotionally expressive and assertive (Davila & Beck, 2002; Turk et al., 2005).
Gender differences also exist in social anxiety, communication, and social support. Women have higher rates of social anxiety (Asher et al., 2017) and are more expressive and polite, while men are more assertive and verbally aggressive (Basow & Rubenfeld, 2003).
Women tend to provide, receive (Neff & Karney, 2005), and perceive more social support than men (Kendler et al., 2005).
Building on this research, the current study examined six communication styles as mediators between social anxiety and perceived social support among men and women.
Understanding these relationships could inform interventions to help socially anxious individuals harness communication skills to increase perceived support.
Method
This study explored relationships between social anxiety, perceived social support, and six communication styles (expressiveness, preciseness, verbal aggressiveness, questioningness, emotionality, and impression manipulativeness) among college students.
It also examined gender differences in these variables and whether communication styles mediated the link between social anxiety and perceived social support differently for men and women.
Procedure
Participants completed an online survey with measures of social anxiety, communication styles, and perceived social support. The order of the measures was randomized.
Sample
813 psychology students (233 men, 580 women) at a large southern U.S. university participated. They ranged in age from 18-30 (M=20.56 years).
The sample was 52.8% White, 16.5% Black, 19.7% Hispanic, 8% Asian, and 3.1% other ethnicities.
Measures
- Social Interaction Anxiety Scale-6 (SIAS-6) & Social Phobia Scale-6 (SPS-6): 12 items total measuring social anxiety on a 5-point scale. The SIAS-6 assesses anxiety related to social interactions, while the SPS-6 measures fear of being scrutinized during routine activities.
- Communication Styles Inventory (CSI): 96 items assessing 6 communication domains (expressiveness, preciseness, verbal aggressiveness, questioningness, emotionality, and impression manipulativeness) on a 5-point scale. Each domain consists of 4 facets measuring specific aspects of that communication style.
- Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS): 12 items measuring perceived support from family, friends, and significant others on a 7-point scale. The scale provides a subjective assessment of the adequacy of social support from these three sources.
Statistical Analysis
Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and independent t-tests compared men and women.
Multiple mediation models using PROCESS tested communication styles as mediators between social anxiety and perceived support, separately for men and women.
Results
As hypothesized, social anxiety was associated with lower perceived social support (H1).
For both genders, social anxiety was related to lower perceived support through lower expressiveness (H2).
Social anxiety was linked to lower support through higher emotionality for women only (H3).
The mediating communication styles differed by gender:
- For men, social anxiety was associated with lower support through lower preciseness.
- For women, social anxiety was linked to lower support through lower verbal aggressiveness and higher emotionality.
Insights
This study highlights that the way socially anxious individuals communicate influences their perceptions of available support.
While prior research found self-disclosure impacted the social anxiety-perceived support link just for women (Cuming & Rapee, 2010), the current study showed that for both genders, being less expressive and contributing less to conversations explained some of the relationship.
The gender-specific mediators align with research on gender norms in communication. For men, conveying ideas precisely and substantively seems important for feeling supported and fitting masculine norms around clear, outcome-focused communication (Mulac et al., 2001).
For women, lower verbal aggressiveness or a lack of assertiveness to marshal support when needed mediated the link, perhaps reflecting expectations for women to be less direct (Palomares, 2009).
Higher emotionality also played a role for women, suggesting that socially anxious women feel their sensitivity and emotional expressiveness could burden others and reduce support.
This study extends prior work by revealing communication styles as a mechanism linking social anxiety and perceived support. It suggests socially anxious individuals could benefit from interventions targeting communication skills to bolster confidence in their ability to garner support.
Future research could incorporate third-party observations of communication and longitudinal designs to clarify causal relationships.
Strengths
This study had several strengths, including:
- Explored an understudied mechanism (communication styles) in the link between social anxiety and perceived social support
- Examined gender differences
- Used well-validated measures
- Tested multiple mediators simultaneously
- Large sample size (N=813)
Limitations
This study also had several limitations, including:
- Cross-sectional design prevents conclusions about directionality and causality
- Predominantly female sample limits generalizability
- Self-report measures introduce potential for bias; no behavioral observations of communication
- College student sample may not generalize to broader population
Implications
The findings suggest that psychotherapy for social anxiety could incorporate communication skills training to help individuals develop tools to increase their perception of social support.
Increasing expressiveness may benefit both men and women. However, clinicians may need to tailor interventions by gender, for example helping men communicate ideas clearly and succinctly, assisting women with healthy assertiveness, and normalizing emotionality.
With social anxiety one of the most prevalent disorders, better understanding its interpersonal effects and the role of communication could substantially improve sufferers’ relational experiences and mental health.
However, more research in representative samples using observational methods is needed to establish causal links and inform interventions.
References
Primary reference
Barnett, M. D., Maciel, I. V., Johnson, D. M., & Ciepluch, I. (2021). Social anxiety and perceived social support: Gender differences and the mediating role of communication styles. Psychological Reports, 124(1), 70-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119900975
Other references
Asher, M., Asnaani, A., & Aderka, I. M. (2017). Gender differences in social anxiety disorder: A review. Clinical psychology review, 56, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.05.004
Calsyn, R. J., Winter, J. P., & Burger, G. K. (2005). The relationship between social anxiety and social support in adolescents: A test of competing causal models. Adolescence, 40(157), 103.
Cuming, S., & Rapee, R. M. (2010). Social anxiety and self-protective communication style in close relationships. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48(2), 87-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2009.09.010
Davila, J., & Beck, J. G. (2002). Is social anxiety associated with impairment in close relationships? A preliminary investigation. Behavior Therapy, 33(3), 427-446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(02)80037-5
Kessler, R. C., Petukhova, M., Sampson, N. A., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Wittchen, H. U. (2012). Twelve‐month and lifetime prevalence and lifetime morbid risk of anxiety and mood disorders in the United States. International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 21(3), 169-184. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1359
Sarason, I. G., Levine, H. M., Basham, R. B., & Sarason, B. R. (1983). Assessing social support: the social support questionnaire. Journal of personality and social psychology, 44(1), 127. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.127
Keep Learning
Here are some potential discussion questions for a college class on this paper:
- How might cultural norms and values impact the relationships between social anxiety, communication styles, and perceived social support? What cultural factors would be important to consider in future research?
- What are some specific ways psychotherapy could help socially anxious individuals modify their communication to increase perceived social support? What role could assertiveness training, expressive writing, or role-playing conversations play?
- If you were designing a longitudinal study to clarify the causal links between social anxiety, communication, and perceived support, what variables would you measure at each timepoint? What would be the ideal time lag between assessments?
- The current study found that emotionality was linked to lower perceived support for socially anxious women. However, could there be contexts where emotional expressiveness helps elicit support? What factors might moderate this relationship?
- How might the increasing prevalence of digital communication impact the relationships explored in this study? Would you expect communication styles to play a smaller or larger role in linking social anxiety to perceived support in online interactions compared to face-to-face?
