The relationship between physical exercise and social anxiety among college students: the chain mediation of self-concept clarity and psychological resilience

Abstract

Background With the widespread adoption of online social interactions, contemporary college students have shown a declining willingness to engage in face-to-face social interactions, and social anxiety has become an increasingly prominent issue, severely hindering the development of their interpersonal adaptation skills and their physical and mental well-being. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between physical exercise and social anxiety among college students and explores the chained mediating effects of self-concept clarity and psychological resilience on this relationship. Methods Using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey design, a convenience sampling method was employed to survey 563 college students from universities in Liaoning, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, and Heilongjiang, using convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Physical Activity Level Scale, the Social Anxiety Scale, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, and the Psychological Resilience Scale. SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0 were used to perform descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and Bootstrap mediation analysis. Results (1) The results of the correlation analysis showed that the four variables—physical exercise, self-concept clarity, psychological resilience, and social anxiety—were significantly correlated with one another. Physical exercise was negatively correlated with social anxiety (r = −0.511), positively correlated with self-concept clarity (r = 0.545), and positively correlated with psychological resilience (r = 0.528). (2) The mediating effects of all three pathways were significant: Path 1 (physical exercise→self-concept clarity→social anxiety) had a mediating effect of −0.106, 95% CI [−0.168, −0.047]; Path 2 (physical exercise→psychological resilience→social anxiety) had a mediation effect of −0.139, 95% CI [−0.218, −0.085]; Path 3 (physical exercise→self-concept clarity→psychological resilience→social anxiety) had a chained mediation effect of −0.091, 95% CI [−0.139, −0.058]. Conclusion (1) Physical exercise is significantly negatively correlated with social anxiety among college students; (2) Self-concept clarity and psychological resilience mediate the relationship between physical exercise and social anxiety among college students in a chained manner; that is, physical exercise is associated with lower levels of social anxiety through both individual and chained mediating pathways.