Social Anxiety, Social Acceptance and Academic Self-Perceptions in High-School Students

Abstract

The study focused on how social anxiety relates to acceptance among classmates, academic self-efficacy and academic performance in Slovene high-school students. N = 277 students (58% females, age 16 to 17) filled in the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, the Sociometric Test, the "Guess Who" technique, and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. The students also answered additional questions about their well-being and social acceptance in the classroom. The results revealed that the most socially anxious students belonged to the sociometric group of rejected students, being described by their classmates as anxious and having a negative mood. More socially anxious students reported a lower degree of well-being in the classroom and a lower degree of acceptance by their classmates. Finally, higher social anxiety was related to lower academic self-efficacy but higher academic performance.