Self-consciousness in Chinese college students in Hong Kong

A total of 196 Chinese college students responded to the Chinese version of the 23-item Self-Consciousness Scale. Factor analysis of item responses showed that social anxiety emerged as a distinct dimension, but private and public self-consciousness were not clearly differentiable as separate aspects of general self-consciousness. Although mean scores of Private Self-Consciousness, Public Self-Consciousness, and Social Anxiety of Chinese college students were comparable to their American counterparts, they were significantly higher than scores from other countries. Plausible reasons for the relatively higher scores are discussed.