The investigation of the relationship between the social anxiety levels and problem solving approaches of high school students

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between the social anxiety levels and problem solving approaches of high school students. In this research, correlational survey method was used. The population of the research consists of the high school students in Mersin. The sample of the study consists of totally 453 students studying at Nevit Kodallı Fine Arts High School, Yusuf Kalkavan Anatolian High School and Pakize Kokulu Anatolian High School. In the study, "Çapa Social Phobia Scale for Children and Adults" was used to determine the social anxiety level, "Problem Solving Inventory" was used in order to determine the problem solving levels and "Personal Information Form" was used to determine the students' genders, ages, grade levels and economic conditions. In the analysis of the data, independent groups t-test, Pearson moment correlation analysis, one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), multiple regression analysis and simple linear regression analysis were used. The results of the research concluded that there was a positive significant relationship between the scores of social phobia inventory and the total scores of problem solving inventory. In line with this result, it is clear that the social anxiety level of an individual increases as his unreliability towards problem solving skills scale up. Another finding of the research showed that the males displayed more planned approaches than the females and the females displayed more evaluative approaches than the males. The problem solving skills predicate the social anxiety levels significantly. Finally, it was determined that the social anxiety levels and problem solving skills of high school students did not differ according to the gender.