The Role of Self-Esteem and Perceived Parental Attitudes in Determining Fear of Negative Evaluation in Men and Women

The findings in recent literature indicate that fear of negative evaluation is related to many disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders and social anxiety. Therefore, determining the factors that affect the development of fear of negative evaluation seems important for developing preventive programs in the field of mental health. Although previous studies reported that the fear of negative evaluation is related to low self-esteem and rejecting parental attitudes, our knowledge is still inadequate in this area. The aim of this study was to both test the assumption that the attitudes of parents of women and men differ, and to investigate the role of self-esteem and perceived parental attitudes in the determination of the fear of negative evaluation in women and men. To this end, 230 university students (125 of which were women) completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Perceived Parental Attitudes Scale and the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale. The results suggest that perceived emotional warmth and rejection scores were different across genders. While women perceived more emotional warmth, men perceived higher rejective parental attitudes. Two different regression analyses were performed to determine the predictors of fear of negative evaluation in women and men. Low self-esteem accounted for 12% of the variance in fear of negative evaluation among women. Overprotective parental attitudes accounted for 20% of the variance in fear of negative evaluation among men. The findings indicate that gender role expectations should be taken into consideration in the investigation of those factors affecting the development of fear of negative evaluation and in the development of preventive interventions. In light of the findings of this study, it is believed that individual interventions which aim to improve self-esteem in women, and education programs which aim to encourage parents to develop positive parental attitudes could be effective as preventive interventions