Courage: A Potential Mediator of the Relationship Between Personality and Social Anxiety

Abbas Abdollahi, Alim Al Ayub Ahmed, Wanich Suksatan, Tribhuwan Kumar, Mohammed Sabeeh Majeed, Anna Gustina Zainal, Farimah Dokoushkani, Kelly A. Allen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social anxiety is one of the most prevalent and chronic mental-health conditions in young adults. To date, no studies have been conducted about the relationships between the Big Five personality dimensions, courage, and social anxiety among Malaysian undergraduate students. Therefore, this study was designed to examine courage as a potential mediator of the association between the Big Five personality dimensions and social anxiety among Malaysian Undergraduates. In this study, 500 Malaysian undergraduate students (205 males and 295 females) completed a series of questionnaires. Structural equation modelling (AMOS-SEM) revealed that, of the Big Five, neuroticism and social anxiety were positively correlated. Extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness, as well as courage, were negatively correlated with social anxiety. Courage mediated the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and social anxiety. The main contribution of the present research is to show how the Big Five personality dimensions may contribute to social anxiety. The findings of this study also could be implicated for counselling practice for undergraduate students in Malaysia as a collectivist setting and other collectivist settings around the world.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)53-62
Number of pages10
JournalPsychological Studies
Volume67
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022

Keywords

  • Big Five personality dimensions
  • Courage
  • Social anxiety
  • Undergraduates

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