Social Anxiety and Relationship Formation During the College Transition: Self-Verification, Self-Image, and Victimization.

Abstract

This study tested a self-verification model of social anxiety in the context of relationship formation during the transition to college. Incoming college freshmen (N = 68) completed measures of social anxiety and social self-esteem at the beginning of college and 10 weeks later. Using sociometric ratings completed 10 weeks later, relational victimization appeared to be a unitary construct and not distinct from physical victimization. Participants with low social self-esteem at Time 1 were subsequently seen as victimized, reported disliking spending time at Time 2 with peers who reported liking them, and reported high social anxiety at Time 2 even in the absence of subsequent victimization. The implications of these results for understanding the role of self-verification processes in the maintenance of self-image and social anxiety are discussed.