The Effects of Internalized Shame on Taijin-Kyofu-Sho and Social Anxiety: The Differential Mediating Process of Anger-In and Projection

This study examined the relationships among psychosocial variables related to social anxiety with concerns for offending others (Taijin Kyofusho Scale; TKS) compared to social anxiety disorder (SAD). For this purpose, 354 undergraduate students were asked to complete self-reporting questionnaires. The results were as follows. First, internalized shame, anger-in, projection, TKS, and SAD were significantly positively correlated. Second, while the relationship between internalized shame and TKS was sequentially mediated by anger-in and projection, the relationship between internalized shame and SAD was not. Interestingly, for the simple mediation effect in the relationship between internalized shame and TKS, projection showed a partial mediation effect, but anger-in had none. In the relationship between internalized shame and SAD, anger-in showed a partial mediation effect, but projection had none. Finally, future research directions, clinical implications, and the limitations of this study are discussed.