The present study investigated (1) the mediational effects of self-presentational expectancy in the relationship between peer relational skills and social anxiety and (2) whether degree of self-insight moderates this relationship. The constructs comp...
The present study investigated (1) the mediational effects of self-presentational expectancy in the relationship between peer relational skills and social anxiety and (2) whether degree of self-insight moderates this relationship. The constructs comprising the peer relational skills and self-presentational expectancy scales, in addition to the scales'' reliability and validity, were obtained in from a pool of fourth to 9th graders, 402 students participated in the peer relational skills scale study while 378 students participated in the self-presentational expectancy scale study. Factor analysis revealed that the peer relational skills scale comprised of the initiative and cooperationempathy constructs. The self-presentational expectancy scale comprised of the constructs assessing expectancy of self-presentational ability in regards to opposite sex and same-sexgroup situations and expectancy of self-presentational outcome in regards to peer interaction situations. The internal consistency of the two scales were found to be reliable and convergent validity was established through correlational analysis with related scales. Data was obtained through self-reports, peer report, and scales examined in the pilot study that assessed self-presentational expectancy, self-insight, and social anxiety pertaining to peer relational skills in 272 fourth and fifth graders and 279 eighth and ninth graders. Self-insight was measured by administering the private self-consciousness subscale of the self-consciousness scale, and participants whose scores fell in the upper 50th percentile formed the high self-awareness group and the lower 50th percentile formed the low self-awareness group. The results of the structural equations modelling were as follows: (1) the mediational effect of self-presentational expectancy on the relationship between peer relational skills and social anxiety was found only among female elementary and middle school students. (2) self-presentational expectancy mediated the relationship between peer relational skills and social anxiety in the high self-insight group but not in the low self-insight group, thereby supporting the moderating effect of self-insight. The female participants demonstrated a higher degree of self-insight compared to male participants. As a result, the gender difference in the mediational effect of self-presentational expectancy suggests the possibility that self-insight moderates the mediational effect of self-presentational expectancy in the relationship between peer relational skills and social anxiety and that the present study found the moderating role of self-insight supports this possibility. The results suggest that self-presentational expectancy serves as a mediator and in this process, self-insight serves as a moderating variable in the relationship between peer relational skills and social anxiety. More specifically, highly self-insight children and adolescents with initiative, cooperative, and empathic peer relational skills increases their expectancy for positive response from peers in peer interactions and such a positive self-presentational expectancy appears to lower social anxiety. Limitations of the present study as well as implications for future research are discussed.