The relationship between openness and social anxiety: the chain mediating roles of social networking site use and self-evaluation

BACKGROUND: As social networking sites (SNSs) with diverse functions gradually become an important social place for modern people, openness, as a personality trait that represents the willingness to consider diverse things, will be more likely to affect people’s cognitive and emotional experience (e.g., social anxiety) in social interactions. This study examined the relationship between openness and social anxiety and the underlying psychological mechanism in the internet age based on the cognitive-behavioral model of social anxiety. METHODS: This cross‑sectional survey study conducted a questionnaire survey of 522 college students from two provinces in China (191 male; age range 18–25; M = 20.76, SD = 1.34). RESULTS: The results showed that openness is negatively related to social anxiety. Self-evaluation and passive SNS use independently mediate the relationship between openness and social anxiety, respectively. Moreover, openness is associated with social anxiety both through the chain mediating roles of active SNS use and self-evaluation and through the chain mediating roles of passive SNS use and self-evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Openness is negatively associated with social anxiety, and the different ways of SNS use and self-evaluation are the underlying mechanisms. These results provide insights into the clinical treatment of social anxiety and how to benefit from online interactions. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-023-01412-y.