Impact of social anxiety and resilience on subjective happiness among adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the role of social anxiety and resilience in the prediction of subjective happiness among Pakistani youth, which is a significant knowledge gap in the non-Western population. The current study employed a correlational research design to collect data from 200 Pakistani youth using relevant Scales. Pearson product-moment correlation revealed strong negative associations between social anxiety and resilience (r = -0.66, p < .01) and social anxiety and happiness (r = -0.55, p < .01), and a strong positive relationship between resilience and happiness (r = 0.68, p < .01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that social anxiety was a significant negative predictor of happiness (B = -0.18, p < .001) and resilience was a significant positive predictor of happiness (B = 0.55, p < .001), accounting for 48% of the variance, F (2, 197) = 91.52, p < .001). The results of this study showed that social anxiety was a significant predictor of reduced happiness, but resilience was a significant predictor of happiness among Pakistani youth, which could be useful in promoting universal resilience programs rather than developing separate programs for males and females, especially in the developing country of Pakistan.