Abstract:
This research aimed to develop a causal relationship model of
neuroticism and perfectionism personalities as predictors of social anxiety for university students in Southern Thailand, and to test the validity of the model using empirical data. Participants, selected by stratified random sampling, were 400 undergraduate students currently studying in the 1st year of the academic year 2019 in universities located in Southern Thailand. The SPSS and LISREL computer programs were employed for data analysis.
It was found that the hypothesized causal relationship model of neuroticism and perfectionism personalities as predictors of social anxiety for the 1st year undergraduate students correlated with empirical data. Additionally, the statistical values (X2 = 91.42, p = .07, df = 73, X2/df = 1.25, RMSEA = .02, SRMR = .05, RMR = .01, CFI = 1.00, GFI = .97 and AGFI = .94) confirmed that the neuroticism and perfectionism personalities were capable predictors of anxiety with 25% accuracy. Moreover, both neuroticism and perfectionism personalities showed a level of positive influence on anxiety, with statistical significance at the .01 level. The neuroticism personality displayed the highest influence on anxiety, followed by the perfectionism personality.