Sociotropy, Autonomy, Self-Esteem, Perceived Social Support, and Anxiety Among Adults in Pakistan

The present study aimed at examining relationship between sociotropy and autonomy with self-esteem and anxiety in adults in Pakistan and to test the moderation effect of perceived social support in the relationships between sociotropy and autonomy with self-esteem and anxiety. Methods: A quantitative correlational design was used. The sample consisted of 500 healthy unmarried individuals aged 18-29 years who were selected from government and private universities across the country, using a purposive sampling technique. The Personal Style Inventory, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the anxiety subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 were all filled out by the participants. Data were processed in SPSS version 26, descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation, Hayes' PROCESS Macro Model 1 and internal consistency analysis were used. Results: There was a significant correlation between sociotropy and anxiety (r=.22, p<.01) and with perceived social support (r=.29, p<.01), but not with self-esteem (r=-.05, p=.267). Self-esteem (r=.15, p<.01), anxiety (r=.12, p<.01) and perceived social support (r=.20, p<.01) were positively related to autonomy. Perceived social support was shown to be significantly positively related to self-esteem (r=.14, p<.01) and, surprisingly, not significantly related to anxiety (r≈0, p=.977). Sociotropy × perceived social support interactions were significant for self-esteem (B=.002, p=.026) and anxiety (B=.001, p=.010), but the autonomy × perceived social support interactions were not significant for self-esteem (B≈0, p=.750) or anxiety (B≈0, p=.569). Conclusion: The results suggest that the sociotropic orientation is related to higher anxiety and that perceived social support modifies the relationship between sociotropy and self-esteem and anxiety. A positive relationship was found between autonomy and self-esteem and autonomy and anxiety; and perceived social support did not significantly change these relationships. These findings underline the need for taking both vulnerability and inter-personal resources into account to comprehend anxiety in young adults in Pakistan.