Abstract

Based on self-presentation model, the present study examined the relation between social anxiety and social self discrepancy, the discrepancy between actual social self image and ideal social self image. College students performed the Interaction Anxiousness Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and 4 types of the Texas Social Behavior Inventory to measure 4 different self-concepts(actual self, ideal self, actual social image, and ideal social image). Four types of self-concepts and 2 types of self-discrepancies were compared between socially anxious subjects and non-anxious subjects, by partialing out the effect of depression. Students with high social anxiety reported lower actual self, lower ideal self, lower actual social image, and lower ideal social image than students with low social anxiety. Subjects with high social anxiety reported greater discrepancy between their actual and ideal self, and greater discrepancy between their actual and ideal social image than subjects with low social anxiety. The findings supported the hypothesis of self-presentation theory that socially anxious person possessed the greater discrepancy between current and desired social image. Implications of the present findings and suggestions for future studies were discussed.