Fear Behind the Raise of a Hand: Social Anxiety in University Classrooms

Abstract

The current research study used a quantitative correlational design to investigate the impact of social anxiety on university students' participation in classroom activities. The research study included a sample of 300 students who were divided equally into 150 male students and 150 female students aged 20 to 28 years from various academic programs. The Social Phobia Inventory SPIN (Connor et al., 2000) was used by participants to assess their social anxiety situations, while the Social Engagement Questionnaire SEQ (Handelsman et al., 2005) measured their classroom participation throughout multiple learning environments. The results demonstrated that social anxiety created a strong negative link with classroom engagement (r = −.78, p < .001). The results showed that social anxiety established a powerful negative relationship that affected students' classroom engagement. A heightened degree of social anxiety in students led to more visibly reduced participation in verbal and physical classroom interactions and academic activities. Regression analysis showed that social anxiety worked as a strong predictor for classroom participation, explaining 56% of the variance (R² = .56). Social anxiety affected non-verbal skills, which people used for group work, peer relationships, and academic discussion activities. The results demonstrate the need for treatment programs that combine psychological methods with cognitive-behavioral methods to address both cognitive and behavioral aspects. The creation of supportive classroom environments by teachers through group work and student interaction, together with positive feedback and nonjudgmental assessment methods, leads to increased academic engagement, improved self-esteem, and better communication skills and academic achievement for students.