Avaliação de abertura à experiência e ansiedade social em universitários

Abstract

People with social anxiety traits suffer significant losses in their personal and professional activities when there are demands for socialization. Avoidance of feared situations becomes a recurring behaviour, reinforcing fear, and attempts to overcome these situations are often unsuccessful. Since individuals with a high degree of openness to experience tend to get involved in new situations, including social situations, it is believed that there is a significant correlation between the two constructs. Thus, the present study sought to correlate characteristic symptoms of social anxiety disorder and openness to experience, one of the Big Five Personality Traits. To this end, a sociodemographic questionnaire and two psychometric instruments were applied: the Openness to Experience Factorial Scale (EFA) and the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). A total of 190 undergraduate and postgraduate took part in this study, 110 men and 80 women, with an average age of 22 years, ranging from 18 to 54. Pearson's correlation index was used to assess the relation between the factors of each instrument used in the study. The results showed statistically significant correlations (for p <0.01) between all SPIN subscales and the habits and values and fantasy facets. The importance of the traits of social anxiety in the university population are discussed, since appropriate symptom assessment and treatment can improve the quality of life of these subjects.