Turkish Tourism and Hospitality Students’ Social Anxiety and Avoidance

ABSTRACT

In tourism and hospitality services employee–customer interaction constitutes a significant proportion of the service provided and hence the quality of the service. This study explores levels of social anxiety and social avoidance among tourism and hospitality students in Turkey. Results received from 615 students revealed that 54% of the students had mild, 37.4% moderate, and 3.4% severe levels of social anxiety. Only 5% of the students had no social anxiety. In terms of social avoidance, 63.4% of the students occasionally, 27.2% often, and 1.3% usually avoided social interactions. This study has significant implications for tourism and hospitality program managers at universities as well as for tourism and hospitality managers in the industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Service quality
• social anxiety
• social avoidance
• social phobia
• social skills