Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to analyse cultural differences in social anxiety scores among Spanish, Slovenian and Portuguese students of Secondary Education.

For this purpose Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SASA; Puklek, 1997) was administered to 983 students from Grades 7 to 12. The Spanish sample consisted of 330 middle and high school students (164 males and 166 females). Ages ranged from 12 to 18: 97 were between 12 and 13 years of age, 165 between 14 and 15 years of age, and 68 between 16 and 18 years old. The Portuguese sample consisted of 302 middle and high school students (125 males and 177 females). Ages ranged from 12 to 18: 97 were between 12 and 13 years of age, 151 between 14 and 15 years of age, and 54 between 16 and 18 years of age. The Slovenian sample consisted of 351 middle and high school students (162 males and 189 females). Ages ranged from 12 to 18: 111 were between 12 and 13 years of age, 173 between 14 and 15 years of age, and 67 between 16 and 18 years of age.

The SASA measures two factors: (a) Apprehension and Fear of Negative Evaluation (AFNE), consisting of 15 items that assess adolescent’s fears, worries, and anticipations of possible negative evaluation by peers and audience, and (b) Tension and Inhibition in Social Contact (TISC), consisting of 13 items that assess social tension/relaxation, speech or behaviour inhibition and readiness to exposure in social interactions. It also provides a global score of social anxiety.

ANOVA analyses were used to determine if there were differences among those populations in the social anxiety scales. Once the differences were obtained post-hoc analysis (Scheffe test) were performed to determine between which countries appeared the differences. Furthermore effect size (d index) was used to set the magnitude of these differences.

Results showed that Portuguese students had higher global social anxiety than Spanish and Slovenian samples, nevertheless these differences were not significant. Portuguese students also presented a higher social anxiety than Spanish and Slovenian students in Tension and Inhibition in Social Contact. Slovenian students showed higher scores than Spanish and Portuguese students in Apprehension and Fear of Negative Evaluation. Most effect sizes were of small or moderate magnitude.

In summary, the results showed cultural differences in social anxiety depending factor assessed, it is therefore necessary to investigate what cultural factors are involved in specific differences found.

Keywords:

social anxiety, cultural differences, adolescents.