Effect of Self-Differentiation on Trait Anxiety and Authenticity of University Students

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of self-differentiation on trait anxiety and authenticity in university students. The sample consists of a total of 333 university students (244 female and 89 male) studying in various departments of a state university who volunteered to participate in the study. Differentiation of Self Inventory-Short Form (DSI-SF) was used to measure self-differentiation levels; "Trait Anxiety Scale" was used to measure trait anxiety levels; and "Authenticity Scale" was used to measure the authenticity levels of university students. The results obtained were analyzed both with SPSS and AMOS programs. The correlation between variables was observed with SPSS analysis. The analyses were tested at .05 and .01 significance levels using SPSS 25.0 package programme. The PROCESS (Model 4) Macro was used in SPSS to examine the mediating effect of anxiety in the relationship between self-differentiation and authenticity. The findings of the research indicated that the relationship between self-differentiation and authenticity in university students was partially mediated. The study also demonstrated the positive predictive value of self-differentiation at the level of authenticity in university students. The findings were then discussed in relation to the existing literature, with some suggestions for future research made.