Mediation effect of cognitive flexibility between fear of negative evaluation and interaction anxiety

Social anxiety has an increasing pattern during adolescence and is common among university students. It is associated with many adverse outcomes. Although there is considerable progress in social anxiety literature, there are significant gaps, and more research is needed to clarify causal pathways and moderator and mediator effects. This study evaluated the mediating role of cognitive flexibility in the link between fear of negative evaluation and interaction anxiety, which are two main symptom clusters of social anxiety. The sample comprised 552 undergraduate university students, 453 (82.1%) female and 99 (17.9%) male and 4 (0.7%) unspecified, from various departments. The study used self-report measures. Results showed that the fear of negative evaluation is significantly related to interaction anxiety, and cognitive flexibility demonstrates a partial mediation effect in this relationship. These findings contribute to the current literature by revealing cognitive flexibility as a mediator between fear of negative evaluation and interaction anxiety. The results suggest that working on cognitive flexibility may help prevent the development of interaction anxiety in university students.