The Effects of Social Anxiety and Online Privacy Concern on Individual Differences in Internet-Based Interaction Anxiety and Communication Preferences

Abstract

Social anxiety (SA) and online privacy concerns (OPCs) are conceptually distinct fears, but both may be activated by Internet-based social contexts. Whereas SA is focused on being the object of interpersonal evaluation, OPC is focused on preventing others from gaining unauthorized access to private personal information. No research to date has investigated how SA and OPCs may uniquely or interactively predict individual differences in online interaction anxiety or attitudes and preferences about online communication. Participants (N = 374) completed the Social Phobia Inventory and measures of OPCs, online interaction anxiety, and attitudes related to online communication. The results revealed that SA and OPCs were not correlated with one another; however, they each uniquely predicted significant variance in particular outcomes, with no interactive effects. Findings help to illuminate the ways in which online communication preferences may be differentially shaped by people's levels of SA and OPCs, respectively. Theoretical implications and applications are discussed.