A study of Chinese students found that those with higher levels of psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and self-obscurity tended to have more pronounced anxiety about social appearance. On the other hand, those with more pronounced narcissism tended to have lower social appearance anxiety. The paper is scientific report.
Social appearance anxiety is a psychological condition characterized by intense fear and anxiety about receiving negative evaluations and judgments from others based on one’s appearance. This is a type of social anxiety that focuses specifically on concerns about body image, attractiveness, and how others perceive your appearance. People who are anxious about their social appearance experience significant distress in social situations, which can lead to avoidance behaviors, low self-esteem, and impaired social functioning.
Research shows that social appearance anxiety can be influenced by the media and the social standards it sets. When the media promotes highly attractive men and women and sets them as the social standard, it can cause people to value their bodies less and increase social appearance anxiety. However, it is still not fully clear whether personality traits influence social appearance anxiety. Researchers are particularly interested in dark tetrad traits, which are known to be associated with a variety of negative psychosocial outcomes.
The Dark Tetrad refers to a set of four personality traits that are considered malicious or socially aversive. These characteristics are Machiavellian, characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others. narcissism. Characterized by grandiosity, entitlement, and lack of empathy. Accompanied by psychopathy, impulsivity, callousness, and lack of remorse. And sadism is defined as deriving pleasure from inflicting pain and suffering on others. These traits are considered malicious because they are associated with manipulative, selfish, and harmful behavior.
Study author Wenjing Jing and colleagues wanted to investigate the link between social appearance anxiety, dark tetrad traits, and self-concealment. Self-concealment is the tendency to keep personal information, feelings, and experiences hidden from others, even when doing so causes psychological distress. These authors conducted an online survey.
The participants in the study were 1186 Chinese students between the ages of 15 and 25. Of these, 588 were women. 324 of them were the only children in the family. Approximately 52% lived in rural areas.
Students completed assessments of narcissism (Narcissistic Personality Inventory), psychopathy (Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale), Machiavellianism (Machiavellian Personality Scale), sadism (Short-Term Sadistic Impulses Scale), and self-concealment (Self-Concealment Scale). did. , and social appearance anxiety (Social Appearance Anxiety Scale).
Results showed that social appearance anxiety was most strongly associated with self-concealment. Students with more pronounced social appearance anxiety tended to have a greater tendency to conceal themselves. Students with more pronounced psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism also tended to have slightly more pronounced social appearance anxiety. Those with more pronounced narcissism tended to have very slightly lower social appearance anxiety on average. Apart from personality traits, students who had poor relationships with their parents tended to have slightly more pronounced anxiety about social appearance.
“As a result of the analysis, (a)[there were] No gender differences were found in social appearance anxiety, and no gender differences were found in Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism, or self-concealment. (b) Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and self-concealment positively predicted social appearance anxiety, whereas narcissism was a negative predictor. “Narcissism was a protective factor against social appearance anxiety, whereas psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and self-concealment were associated with higher social appearance anxiety,” the study authors concluded.
This study reveals a link between personality anxiety and social appearance anxiety. However, there are also limitations that need to be considered. Remarkably, the association with narcissism was almost negligible. It was only detectable because the study sample was so large. Additionally, all study participants were students. Results may not be the same for other demographic groups.
paper, “Dark tetrad’s social appearance anxiety and self-concealment,The authors of the book are Wenjing Jin, Tingting Zhan, Yaoguo Geng, Yibo Shi, Wanying Hu, and Bei Ye.
