Shyness, masculine ideology, physical attractiveness, and emotional inexpressiveness: Testing a mediational model of men's interpersonal competence.

A model was tested in which emotional inexpressiveness fully mediates the relation of shyness, gender identity, and physical attractiveness with men's interpersonal competence. Structural equation modeling of the results of Study 1 showed that fully and partially mediated (i.e., direct and indirect paths) models fit the data equally well. Study 2 modifications to the model included replacing gender identity with masculine ideology and conducting a multidimensional assessment of competence. Results indicated that the partially mediated model was better in explaining the data; however, the model was replicated in that emotional inexpressiveness mediated the relations of shyness and masculine ideology with interpersonal competence. Implications of the results for modification of the model and for counseling practice are discussed.