Abstract

This study examined whether elementary school teachers’ self-concealment and post-event rumination had a sequential mediating effect on the relationship between their fear of students’ parents’ negative attitudes and their social interaction anxiety. An online questionnaire was distributed to elementary school teachers living in metropolitan areas and 400 responses were received. The relationship between the variables was determined through correlation analysis and the research model’s goodness of fit was tested using structural equation modeling. There were four main results. First, there were statistically significant positive correlations between fear of negative evaluation, self-concealment, post-event rumination, and social interaction anxiety. Second, self-concealment had a statistically significant mediating effect on the relationship between fear of negative evaluation and social interaction anxiety. Third, post-event rumination also had a mediating effect on this relationship. Fourth, self-concealment and post-event rumination also had a statistically significant sequential mediating effect on this relationship. In conclusion, this study’s results show the need for an intervention that addresses elementary school teachers’ self-concealment and post-event rumination when they experience anxiety about students’ parents’ negative evaluations.