A Survey of Relationship between Self-esteem and Social Anxiety among Undergraduate Students

The experience of anxiety by undergraduate students has negative effects on their academic performance and on their mental health and professional performance later. In recent years, researchers and clinicians have increasingly come to understand the etiology, prevalence and broad impacts of social anxiety disorder (or social phobia as it was called in DSM-III-R) on the individual. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between self-esteem and social anxiety among undergraduate students. This survey was conducted through cross-sectional method. The data were collected from 220 students of Yazd University in seven educational groups (between 23 October and 23 November 2006). These students were selected through proportional stratified sampling. They responded to Standardized Scales of Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale (RSES) and Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). The results revealed significant difference among students with different levels of self-esteem concerning to "social anxiety" (p < 0.05), in general, and with regard to "fear of people with authority" (p < 0.01), in particular. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis confirmed that the self-esteem explained 16.1% of the variance in social anxiety. In contrast, there was negative correlation between self-esteem, self-assessment and social anxiety, in general and with fear of authoritative persons, in particular. Thus, with an increase of students' scores on the self-esteem scale, the students' scores on the social phobia inventory decreased.