Examination of Social Appearance Anxiety through Psychological Theories

Abstract

Social appearance anxiety, which is expressed as a type of social anxiety, is defined as the state of tension and anxiety experienced by people when their physical appearance is evaluated by others. In the literature, there are studies examining the factors that increase or decrease social appearance anxiety and the negative effects of social appearance anxiety. However, it is noteworthy that psychological theories are not included in the examination of social appearance anxiety, which is a common problem experienced by almost everyone at certain periods of their lives. Addressing the concept of social appearance anxiety from a theoretical perspective will contribute to the understanding of the concept, better planning of future research, and will also fill the gap in the literature. In this context, in this review study, the concept of social appearance anxiety is explained, and then the concepts related to its analysis in terms of psychological theories are discussed.