Personality factors associated with generalized and non-generalized social anxiety

Ninety-five university students completed two measures of social anxiety, the Social Phobia Scale (SPS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) (Mattick & Clarke, 1989, unpublished), and two personality scales, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO; Costa & McCrae, 1985, The NEO Personality Inventory Manual, Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources) and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Peterson & Reiss, 1987, Anxiety Sensitivity Index Manual, Polos Heights: International Diagnostics Systems Inc.). The results of step-wise regression analyses showed that scores on the SPS, a measure of non-generalized (circumscribed) social anxiety, were mostly predicted by the ASI. The SIAS, a measure of generalized social anxiety, was mostly predicted by the NEO domain of Neuroticism. This may suggest that circumscribed social fears (e.g. public speaking) are associated with a fear of anxiety symptoms whereas generalized social anxiety is more related to personality dimensions reflecting neuroticism. The importance of these findings for assessing and conceptualizing social anxiety/phobia are discussed.