شناسایی مؤلفه‌های شناختی و هیجانی مؤثر بر ترس از قضاوت اجتماعی در دانشجویان

حمید صادقی; نسترن عباسی; پیمان  فراهانی

doi:10.61838/5468789

Authors

Hamid Sadeghi Department of Health Psychology, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran Author
Nastaran Abbasi Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
Peyman Farahani Department of Family Counseling, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61838/5468789

Keywords:

Fear of social judgment, negative evaluation, university students, emotion regulation, cognitive bias, thematic analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the cognitive and emotional components affecting fear of social judgment among university students. This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. Participants were 24 university students from Tehran, selected through purposive maximum-variation sampling followed by theoretical sampling. Inclusion criteria were current university enrollment, age between 18 and 30 years, repeated experience of concern about being evaluated or judged by others in social situations, and informed willingness to participate. Data were collected exclusively through semi-structured interviews. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached; no new theme emerged after the twenty-first interview, and three additional interviews were conducted to confirm the adequacy and stability of the extracted categories. The data were analyzed using NVivo software through initial coding, code organization, development of subthemes, and extraction of main themes. Data analysis led to five main categories: negative self-evaluative beliefs and social perfectionism, attentional bias and threatening interpretation of social cues, anticipatory and post-event rumination, social shame and emotion regulation difficulties, and safety behaviors with social avoidance. Participants experienced fear of social judgment not merely as fear of being observed, but as a cognitive-emotional cycle that began with anticipation of negative evaluation, continued through increased self-focused attention, shame, and rumination, and ultimately led to avoidance, silence, excessive behavioral control, and reduced active participation in academic social contexts. The findings indicated that fear of social judgment in university students is a multilayered phenomenon formed through the interaction of negative self-beliefs, sensitivity to evaluative cues, difficulty tolerating uncertainty, shame, and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Therefore, university-based interventions should go beyond reducing situational anxiety and should focus on restructuring self-evaluative beliefs, enhancing cognitive flexibility, strengthening emotion regulation, and reducing safety behaviors.

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