Evaluating Links between Social Withdrawal Motivations and Indices of Psychosocial Adjustment among Norwegian Emerging Adults

Abstract

Social withdrawal is the behavioral tendency to remove oneself from social situations – a tendency that often contributes to reductions in individuals’ mental health. The current study evaluated the links between different motivations for social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability, social avoidance) and indices of psychosocial adjustment in a Norwegian sample of emerging adults. Participants were N = 194 Norwegian university students who completed self-report measures of life satisfaction, loneliness, and depressive symptoms, as well as withdrawal motivations. Among the results, a newly translated version of the Social Preference Scale-Revised (SPS-R) was validated for use in Norway. Findings showed that shyness was uniquely and positively associated with loneliness and depressive symptoms, as well as lower life satisfaction, whereas social avoidance was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Unsociability was uniquely linked to lower levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms. Findings provide novel information about the psychosocial correlates of social withdrawal motivations during emerging adulthood in the under-explored cultural context of Norway. Understanding nuances in the correlates of different motivations may aid in the development of culturally and developmentally sensitive interventions.

Keywords:

• Psychosocial outcomes
• shyness
• social withdrawal
• unsociability

Acknowledgements

The study was not preregistered

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Funding

The current study was funded by the second author (E.B.)

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study and thesis received ethical approval from the local ethics committee, IRB (internal review board) at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo (IRB-number 2795534). All parts of the study were conducted in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration.

Authors’ contributions

NB and EB collected the data for the current study, and translated the measurement instrument. NB developed the manuscript outline, conducted the data analysis, and drafted the manuscript. EB, JCB and RJC contributed to all sections by editing and reviewing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

The dataset used in the current study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nora Braathu

Nora Braathu is a master’s degree graduate in social psychology, and is currently a PhD candidate at the Norwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies. Her interests include shyness and social withdrawal, research on the effects of traumatic events on mental health, global health and implementation research.

Evalill Bølstad

Evalill Bølstad is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo. She is a clinical psychologist, and her interests include research on symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescence, temperament and personality development, and mental health among children and adolescents.

Julie C. Bowker

Julie C. Bowker is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology at the University at Buffalo, New York. Her research interests include individual differences in socioemotional behaviors (e.g., social withdrawal, aggression), peer relationships and friendships, and internalizing problems.

Robert J. Coplan

Robert J. Coplan is a professor at Carleton University in Canada. His general research interests include the development of shyness, social withdrawal, and social anxiety in childhood. His most recent research have focused on the “costs and benefits” of solitude in childhood, the challenges faced by shy and anxious children at school, and the meaning and implications of shyness and social withdrawal across different cultures.