Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T21:23:26.691Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Somebody to Lean On: The Moderating Effect of Relationships on Links Between Social Withdrawal and Self-Worth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2019

Brandon N. Clifford  and
Larry J. Nelson
Brandon N. Clifford*
Affiliation:
T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Larry J. Nelson
Affiliation:
School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Brandon N. Clifford, Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 873701, Tempe, AZ, 85287-3701, USA. Email: brandon.n.clifford@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Previous research has discovered different subtypes of social withdrawal based on motivations to approach or avoid social interactions. Each of these motivations are uniquely related to indices of maladjustment during emerging adulthood, including aspects of the self. However, research has yet to investigate whether or not relationship quality moderates these associations. The purpose of this study was to examine whether relationship quality with best friends, romantic partners, mothers, and fathers, respectively, serve as protective factors in the negative links between shyness and avoidance and self-worth. The participants included 519 college students (Mage = 19.87, SD = 1.99, 61% female) from four universities across the United States. Results revealed that relationship quality with both best friends and romantic partners moderated the relation between shyness and self-worth. The differences between parent and peer relationships are discussed.

Keywords

social withdrawalshynessrelationshipsself-worthemerging adulthood
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Relationships Research , Volume 10 , 2019 , e9
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aiken, L.S. & West, S.G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Arnett, J.J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480.Google Scholar
Aquilino, W.S. (2006). Family relationships and support systems in emerging adulthood. In Arnett, J.J., Tanner, J.L., Arnett, J.J., & Tanner, J.L. (Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of age in the 21st century (pp. 193–217). Washington, DC: American Psychological AssociationGoogle Scholar
Asendorpf, J.B. (1990). Beyond social withdrawal: Shyness, unsociability, and peer avoidance. Human Development, 33, 250–259.Google Scholar
Baker, L. and McNulty, J.K. 2010. Shyness and marriage: Does shyness shape even established relationships? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 665–676.Google Scholar
Barry, C.M., Nelson, L.J., & Christofferson, J. (2013). Asocial and afraid: An examination of shyness and anxiety in emerging adulthood. Journal of Family Studies, 19, 2–18.Google Scholar
Barry, C.M., Padilla-Walker, L.M., Madsen, S.D., & Nelson, L.J. (2008). The impact of maternal relationship quality on emerging adults’ prosocial tendencies: Indirect effects via regulation of prosocial values. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 581–591.Google Scholar
Birditt, K.S., & Antonucci, T. C (2007). Relationship quality profiles and well-being among married adults. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 595–604.Google Scholar
Boivin, M., & Hymel, S. (1997). Peer experience and social self-perceptions: A sequential model. Developmental Psychology, 33, 135–145.Google Scholar
Boivin, M., Hymel, S., & Buikowski, W. (1995). The roles of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and victimization by peers in predicting loneliness and depressed mood in childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 765–785.Google Scholar
Bowker, J.C., & Raja, R. (2011). Social withdrawal subtypes during early adolescence in India. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 997–1011.Google Scholar
Bowker, J., & Rubin, K. (2008, July). Predicting adolescent social withdrawal and internalizing problems: The moderating role of friendship quality. Paper presented at the biennial meetings of International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Wurzburg, Germany.Google Scholar
Burgess, K., Wojslawowicz, J., Rubin, K., Rose-Krasnor, L., & Booth-LaForce, C., (2006). Social information processing and coping styles of shy/withdrawn and aggressive children: Does friendship matter? Child Development, 77, 371–383.Google Scholar
Carbery, J., & Buhrmester, D. (1998). Friendship and need fulfillment during three phases of young adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal relationships, 15, 292–409.Google Scholar
Collins, W.A., & Laursen, B. (2004). Parent-adolescent relationships and influence. In Lerner, R. & Steinberg, L. (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 331–362). New York, NY: Wiley.Google Scholar
Collins, W.A., & Madsen, S.D. (2006). Personal relationships in adolescence and early adulthood. In Vangelisti, A.L. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (pp. 191–209). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Coplan, R.J., Prakash, K., O'Neil, K., & Armer, M. (2004). Do you ‘want’ to play? Distinguishing between conflicted-shyness and social disinterest in early childhood. Developmental Psychology, 40, 244–258.Google Scholar
Cooley, C.H. (1902). Human nature and the social order. New York, NY: Schribners.Google Scholar
Demir, M. (2008). Sweetheart, you really make me happy: Romantic relationship quality and personality as predictors of happiness among emerging adults. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 257–277.Google Scholar
Demir, M., & Weitekamp, L.A. (2006). I am so happy cause today I found my friend: Friendship and personality as predictors of happiness. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8, 181–211.Google Scholar
Erath, S., Flanagan, K., & Bierman, K. (2007). Social anxiety and peer relations in early adolescence: Behavioral and cognitive factors, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 405–416.Google Scholar
Findlay, L.C., Coplan, R.J., & Bowker, A. (2009). Keeping it all inside: Shyness, internalizing coping strategies and socio-emotional adjustment in middle childhood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33, 47–54.Google Scholar
Fraley, R., & Davis, K.E. (1997). Attachment formation and transfer in young adults’ close friendships and romantic relationships. Personal Relationships, 4, 131–144.Google Scholar
Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1992). Age and sex differences in perceptions of networks of personal relationships. Child Development, 63, 832–837.Google Scholar
Gazelle, H., & Rudolph, K. (2004). Moving toward and away from the world: Social approach and avoidance trajectories in anxious solitary youth. Child Development, 75, 829–849.Google Scholar
Goh, Y.L.D., & Wilkinson, R.B. (2017). Attachment strength and relationship expectancies in the prediction of adolescent stress and depression. The Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 34, 106–123.Google Scholar
Hanish, L., & Guerra, N. (2004). Aggressive victims, passive victims, and bullies: Developmental continuity or developmental change. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 50, 17–38.Google Scholar
Hansson, R.O., Jones, W.H., & Carpenter, B.N. 1984. Relational competence and social support. In Shaver, P. (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (pp. 265–284). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Harter, S., & Jackson, B.K. (1993). Young adolescents’ perceptions of the link between low self-worth and depressed affect. Journal of Early Adolescence, 33, 383–407.Google Scholar
Harter, S., Marold, D.B., & Whitesell, N.R., (1992). A model of psycho-social risk factors leading to suicidal ideation in young adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 167–188.Google Scholar
Heatherton, T.F., & Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Binge eating as escape from self-awareness. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 86–108.Google Scholar
Laible, D.J., Carlo, G., & Raffaelli, M. (2000). The differential relations of parent and peer attachment to adolescent adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29, 45–59.Google Scholar
Leck, K. (2006). Correlates of minimal dating. The Journal of Social Psychology, 146, 549–567.Google Scholar
Luster, S.S., Nelson, L.J., & Busby, D.M. (2013). Shyness and communication: Impact on self and partner relationship satisfaction. Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy, 12, 359–376.Google Scholar
Mead, G.H., & In Morris, C.W. (1934). Mind, self & society from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago, Il: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Neeman, J., & Harter, S. (1986). Manual for the self-perception profile for college students. Unpublished manuscript, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J. (2013). Going it alone: Comparing subtypes of withdrawal on indices of adjustment and maladjustment in emerging adulthood. Social Development, 22, 522–538.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J., & Barry, C.M. (2005). Distinguishing features of emerging adulthood: The role of self-classification as an adult. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 242–262.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J., Coyne, S.M., Howard, E., & Clifford, B.N. (2016). Withdrawing to a virtual world: Associations between subtypes of withdrawal, media use, and maladjustment in emerging adults. Developmental Psychology, 52, 933–942.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J., Hart, C.H., Evans, C.A., Coplan, R.J., Roper, S. O, & Robinson, C.C. (2009). Behavioral and relational correlates of low self-perceived competence in young children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 24, 350–361.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J., & Padilla-Walker, L.M. (2013). Flourishing and floundering in emerging-adult college students. Emerging Adulthood, 1, 67–78.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J., Padilla-Walker, L.M., Badger, S., Barry, C.M., Carroll, J.S., & Madsen, S.D. (2008). Associations between shyness and internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and relationships during emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 605–615.Google Scholar
Nelson, L.J., Rubin, K.H., & Fox, N.A. (2005). Social withdrawal, observed peer acceptance, and the development of self-perceptions in children ages 4 to 7 years. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 20, 185–200.Google Scholar
Oh, W., Rubin, K., Bowker, J., Booth-LaForce, C., Rose-Krasnor, L., & Laursen, B. (2008). Trajectories of social withdrawal from middle childhood to early adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 553–566.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, N.L., & Kobak, R. (2010). Assessing adolescents’ attachment hierarchies: Differences across developmental periods and associations with individual adaptation. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 20, 678–706.Google Scholar
Rowsell, H.C., & Coplan, R.J. (2013). Exploring links between shyness, romantic relationship quality, and well-being. Canadian Journal Of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 45, 287–295.Google Scholar
Rubin, K., Chen, X., & Hymel, S. (1993). The socio-emotional characteristics of extremely aggressive and extremely withdrawn children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 39, 518–534.Google Scholar
Rubin, K., Chen, X., McDougall, P., Bowker, A., & McKinnon, J. (1995). The Waterloo Longitudinal Project: Predicting adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems from early and mid-childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 751–764.Google Scholar
Rubin, K., Wojslawowicz, J., Burgess, K., Rose-Krasnor, L., & Booth-LaForce, C. (2006). The friendships of socially withdrawn and competent young adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 139–153.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L., & Morris, A.S. (2001). Adolescent development. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 2, 55–87.Google Scholar
van Wel, F., ter Bogt, T., & Raaijmakers, Q. (2002). Changes in the parental bond and the well-being of adolescents and young adults. Adolescence, 37, 317–333.Google Scholar
Weiss, R.S. (1974). The provisions of social relationships. In Rubin, Z. (Ed.), Doing unto others (pp. 17–26). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, R.B. (2004). The role of parental and peer attachment in the psychological health and self-esteem of adolescents. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 33, 479–493.Google Scholar