Self-reported assertion of males with and without a physical disability

Social anxiety in three Western societies

“…The present study did not demonstrate differences between men and women, which is consistent with the literature on social anxiety (see Van Dam-Baggen & Kraaimaat, 2000). However, cross-cultural studies do point to the role of gender in cultural differences (e.g., Mansour et al, 1987). Closer inspection of their findings reveals that the contribution of gender might be attributable to the different values and orientations of men and women in Muslim societies.…”

“…Some variations are difficult to translate because of their specific meaning, as is the case with the Japanese concept for social anxiety, i.e., taijin kyofy sho (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), which serves to maintain social acceptance and equality in social interactions (Chapman, Mannuzza, & Fyer, 1995, Heckelman & Schneier, 1995. Western Judeo-Christian-oriented values such as autonomy and individualism partly deviate from those of non-Western societies, for example, in Muslimoriented cultures with their values of authoritarianism and collectivism (Mansour, Zernitsky-Shurka, & Florian, 1987). The problem in studies on the universality versus particularity of cross-cultural behavior is the lack of a standard for comparing the similarities and differences in emotions across cultures (Mesquita, Frijda, & Scherer, 1997).…”

“…Cross-cultural studies on social anxiety are unexplored territory. Two types of studies can be distinguished, i.e., studies in which similar samples from different countries are compared (cross-national or multinational studies, e.g., Carmona & Lorr, 1992;Kleinknecht, Dinnel, Kleinknecht, Hiruma, & Harada, 1997;Makris, Juster, Heimberg, Õst, & Rapee, 1994;Mavreas & Bebbington, 1988) and studies in which samples from different cultures in a single country are compared (e.g., Fukuyama, & Greenfield, 1983;Furnham, 1979Furnham, , 1983Mansour et al, 1987;Sue, Ino, & Sue, 1983;Sue, Sue, & Ino, 1990;Zane, Sue, Li-tze Hu, & Kwon, 1991). A relatively greater number of studies have been based on culturally different samples in one country.…”