| Abstract: | This article examines the role of self-referent inhibition on the psychosocial adjustment of college students. Relationships between self-concealment (the tendency to actively conceal from others personal information that one perceives as negative or distressing) and measures of psychosocial adjustment were examined in a sample of 344 college undergraduates. Self-concealment was significantly correlated with self-reported anxiety, depression, shyness, and negative self-esteem. The tendency to self-conceal was also found to be differentially related to the adjustment variables as a function of sex. Attributional processes and the effects of sex-role socialization on inhibition are described, and implications of the study for therapists who work with college students are discussed. The construct of self-concealment represents a potentially important variable in the study of college student adjustment. |
