BEAUTIFUL MESS EFFECT IN RELATION TO PERSONALITY AND WELL-BEING

Abstract

Individuals tend to be more self-critical of their own acts of vulnerability, as compared to judging someone else displaying the same act of vulnerability. We investigated the relationships between individuals’ tendency to demonstrate such a self-others discrepancy and well-being measures such as social anxiety, depression and anxiety symptoms and help-seeking attitude. In a sample of 222 university students (113 females ; 109 males), participants were asked to evaluate the act of showing vulnerability in a series of scenarios and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale-6/ Social Phobia Scale-6 (SIAS-6/SPS-6), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) and Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services- Psychological Openness Scale (IASMHS-PO) were used to measure participants wellbeing outcomes. A correlation analysis revealed that participants with greater self-others discrepancy in evaluation of vulnerability had more severe social anxiety, depression and anxiety symptoms. However, self-others discrepancy did not deter individuals from seeking psychological help from others. Moderation analysis on neuroticism, selfcriticism, self-others discrepancy, SIAS-6/SPS-6 and DASS-21 suggested that neuroticism and self-criticism were stronger predictors than self-others discrepancy on poor mental well-being outcomes.