Too Anxious to Talk: Social Anxiety, Academic Communication, and Students’ Experiences in Higher Education

Abstract

Social anxiety is related to a host of negative student outcomes in the educational context, including physical symptoms of anxiety, reduced cognitive functioning, and poor academic performance. Despite the prevalence of social anxiety, little is known about mechanisms that may underlie associations between social anxiety and outcomes in the context of higher education. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate a conceptual model linking social anxiety, communication with peers and instructors, students’ experiences (i.e., engagement, connectedness, and satisfaction), and indices of socio-emotional functioning at university. Participants were N = 1,073 undergraduate students ( Mage = 20.3 years, SD = 3.49) who completed a series of self-report measures. Among the results, social anxiety was negatively related to communication with instructors, socio-emotional functioning, and student experiences, and academic communication accounted for significant variance in the links between social anxiety and student experiences. In addition, there was at least some evidence that student experiences partially mediated the association between social anxiety and socio-emotional functioning. Gender effects suggest that social anxiety is related to less communication with instructors, lower engagement and satisfaction, and poorer socio-emotional functioning among females compared with males. Results are situated within current literature examining social anxiety in education. The discussion provides concrete suggestions for educational practitioners to increase support for students who experience social anxiety.

The impact of social phobia on willingness to communicate in a second language: The mediation effect of ideal L2 self

“…This result further confirmed the adverse influence of social phobia on academic performance ( Baptista et al, 2012 ; Leigh et al, 2021 ; Vilaplana-Pérez et al, 2021 ; Archbell and Coplan, 2022 ) and on L2 acquisition and learning ( King, 2013a , b ). Meanwhile, the current research provided much empirical evidence and specifically elucidated how and to what extent social phobia could affect L2 WTC.…”

“…Researchers also detected that the adverse impact of social phobia would remain enduring across the lifespan. Archbell and Coplan (2022) also discovered that social phobia was negatively correlated with the academic communication with instructors.…”

Social anxiety in Finnish adolescents from 2013 to 2021: change from pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 era, and mid-pandemic correlates

“…Our finding of association between perceived unavailability of support to schoolwork when needed, and high social anxiety was expected and might relate to findings on socially anxious adolescents’ multiple problems in educational functioning and in communicating their needs for support to adults, such as teachers [ 60 ]. Expressing need for support might be even more difficult and complicated during COVID-19 pandemic, and yet continued support may be especially important for these adolescents.…”

The impact of parenting styles on undergraduate students’ emotion regulation: The mediating role of academic-social student-faculty interaction

“…The positive effect of student-faculty interaction on students' academic well-being was more pronounced among females, and female students were also more likely to engage in one-on-one academic interaction with teachers (Kim, 2019). Archbell and Coplan (2021) indicated that women exhibited more sensitivity in student-faculty interaction and higher level of social anxiety compared to men. These studies reflect differences in the functions performed by student-faculty interaction that may result from gender differences, with male students being more motivated to engage in social studentfaculty interaction, while female students tend to be academicoriented in their interaction.…”