The moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between public self-consciousness, social anxiety and exhibitionism in Japan and South Korea

Abstract

This study examined the moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between public self-consciousness and social anxiety, and on the relationship between public self-consciousness and exhibitionism in Japan and South Korea. The participants were 213 university students in Japan and 234 university students in Korea. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that self-esteem was a moderator of the relationship between public self-consciousness and social anxiety and of the relationship between public self-consciousness and exhibitionism in Korea, but not in Japan. In Korea, public self-consciousness was related to social anxiety for people with low self-esteem, while for people with high self-esteem, public self-consciousness was related to exhibitionism.