Understanding social anxiety among Asian Americans and European Americans: The role of appeasement

Abstract

Cross-cultural studies have consistently shown that there are ethnic group differences in social anxiety, with Asian-heritage individuals reporting higher scores on self-report measures compared to European-heritage individuals. Growing evidence indicates that appeasement, a process by which individuals pacify others to avoid conflict, may be an evolutionary factor that may be closely associated with social anxiety. Despite these theoretical implications, there is a lack of empirical studies that have integrated both cultural and evolutionary frameworks to investigate the ethnic differences in social anxiety. The present dissertation aimed to bridge this gap by exploring how appeasement may play a mediating role between ethnicity and social anxiety among Asian Americans, European Americans, and Korean nationals. However, Korean nationals were not included in the final analyses due to the incompatible sample properties. A total of 510 European Americans and 479 Asian American adults completed self-report measures assessing appeasement and social anxiety. Results of this study supported Keltner’s (1997) two-factor model of appeasement, indicating that anticipatory and reactive appeasement are distinct yet highly correlated constructs. Significant cultural group differences were found in both social anxiety and appeasement related constructs. A series of structural equation model found mediating roles of anticipatory and reactive appeasement in explaining the cultural group differences in social anxiety. These results suggest that cultural factors may shape the experiences and expressions of appeasement, which in turn influence the experience of social anxiety. Specifically, these findings underscore the importance of incorporating cultural framework when working with individuals with social anxiety, particularly for those from Asian-heritage backgrounds who may place a greater emphasis on appeasing others to maintain social harmony.