Is There Lower Social Anxiety Level in Online Interaction?

Internet has changed the way people interact with each other, especially the young people, by making them favor online interaction rather than face-to-face interaction. Previous studies have already provided evidences for a lower social anxiety in online interactions. They proved that people felt less social stress online than face-to-face interactions. Psychological explanations of above conclusion are offered from four aspects: self-disclosure, fears of evaluation, achievement motivation and behavioral inhibition system. However, those explanations still need supports from more integrated theories and objective experimental results.