Abstract

It was known that self-concept has close relationship with psychological problems, but there was no study which compared social anxiety with depression in self-concepts. This study explored the similarities and differences between social anxiety and depression in multifacetedness and multidimensionality of self-concept. The Social Avoidance and Distress Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Multiphasic Self-Concept Inventory were administered to 302 university students, and these data were analyzed with correlation and multiple regression analyses, and analysis of variance. Social anxiety and depression had some differences as well as common characteristics in sub-categories and evaluative dimensions of self-concept. Social anxiety and depression were in part different from each other in the factors which predicted them significantly. The group high in both social anxiety and depression (i.e., mixed) was more negative than all the other groups in most of sub-categories and evaluative dimensions of self-concept, and the socially anxious or depressive groups were more negative than the normal comparison group in most of factors. Finally, suggestions for future research as well as implications and limitations of the present study were discussed.