Social Physique Anxiety, Self-esteem and Depression among College going Students: A Gender Comparison

The purpose of the current study was to examine the gender difference in social physique anxiety, self- esteem, and depression among college going undergraduate students (Male=50, Female=50) ranging from 18 to 21 years. The present study was a cross-section study. The research design in the present study was explorative in nature. Participants were randomly selected for the study. Social physique anxiety, Beck’s depression inventory (BDI-II), and Rosenberg self-esteem scales were administered. A significant gender difference was not found in social physique anxiety. However, mean score suggested that female students (Mean 32.10, SD=6.43) perceived slightly more social physique anxiety than the male student (Mean =31.27, SD=5.514). In self-esteem, the significant gender difference was not found in self- esteem between both groups. An independent samples test indicated that the scores on self-esteem were significantly higher in male (M=18.82, SD= 5.02) than female respondents (M=17.72, SD=4.62), t= 1.139, p= 0.258. A significant gender difference in depression was found between both the groups. Female respondents (M=19.06, SD=10.56) have slightly higher score in depression than male respondents (M=17.72, SD= 4.62), with a t value of -2.604 and p= 0.011. Social physique anxiety has a negative correlation with self-esteem (r=-.077) and positive correlation with Depression (r= .035). Similarly, self –esteem was negatively correlated with social physique anxiety (r=-.077) and has a significant positive correlation with depression (r=-.377). Depression is also found positively correlated with social physique anxiety (r=0.35) and has a negative significant correlation with self-esteem (r=.377). There is a need for providing psychological care among college going students to deal with social physique anxiety and other mental health issues.