Cultural Differences in Social Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis of Asian and European Heritage Samples

Most studies examining cultural differences in social anxiety have found that East Asian participants report higher social anxiety than do Western Europeans, but the differences have not always been statistically significant. Effect sizes have ranged widely, and methodological differences among studies make comparisons difficult. To obtain an estimate of the overall magnitude of cultural group differences in self-reported social anxiety, we conducted a meta-analysis of previous studies comparing individuals of Asian and European heritage. We also tested whether available culturally relevant variables would explain (moderate) some of the between-study differences in cultural differences in social anxiety. The analysis included 31 studies involving 57 individual comparisons between Asian and European samples on measures of social anxiety, resulting in a weighted mean effect size of d = 0.47, 95% confidence interval [0.39, 0.54]. Effect sizes were somewhat higher in studies involving Asian-heritage participants living in Asian countries (d = 0.52) than in Western countries (d = 0.39), although the confidence intervals did overlap slightly (p = .06). Future research on the mechanisms of this difference should include more nuanced measures of acculturation as well as an exploration of anxiety-evoking contexts for these cultural groups.