Social Anxiety and Perceived Social Support: Gender Differences and the Mediating Role of Communication Styles

Abstract

Social anxiety has been linked with lower perceived social support, and there is some evidence that communication styles may explain this relationship. In addition, a body of literature has found gender differences in social anxiety, communication, and perceived social support. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate six communication styles as mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and perceived social support and whether such relationships vary by gender. College men and women (N = 813) completed an online survey. Among men and women, social anxiety was associated with lower social support through lower expressiveness. Among men, social anxiety was associated with lower perceived social support through lower preciseness; among women, this link was through lower verbal aggressiveness and higher emotionality. Psychotherapy may function as an environment in which socially anxious individuals can learn communication skills and acquire the confidence to use them in order to increase perceived social support.

Keywords: Emotional expressiveness; interpersonal communication; social interaction.