The Role of Basic Personality Traits, Cognitive Coping Strategies in Social Anxiety Symptoms.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the role of personality traits and coping mechanisms in social anxiety symptoms within the scope of predisposing and sustaining risk factors.Methods: The study group consists of 505 participants (female are 52.3%) between the ages of 18-42 studying at different private universities in Istanbul. Data collection tools are Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Basic Personality Traits Scale, Ways of Coping with Stress Scale, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale. Results: Within the scope of the study, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Hierarchical Regression Analysis are used. It is observed that participants with low and high social anxiety symptom level differed in terms of extraversion, agreeableness, openness and negative valence among personality traits; self-confident approach, helpless approach and submissive approach among stress coping styles; and refocusing on the plan, positive reappraisal and catastrophizing among cognitive emotion regulation styles. In addition, as a result of the hierarchical regression analysis, it is found that extraversion, openness and negative valence from personality traits; helpless approach and submissive approach from stress coping styles; and only positive refocusing sub-dimension from cognitive emotion regulation styles predicted social anxiety.
 Conclusion: Results of this study supported the role of personality traits, ways of coping with stress and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in social anxiety symptoms. These data provide evidence that extraversion, openness to experience, negative valence personality traits; helpless and submissive stress coping styles might be both sustaining and predisposing risk factors in the conceptualization of social anxiety symptoms.