Self-concept clarity and subjective social status as mediators between psychological suzhi and social anxiety in Chinese adolescents

•Suzhi was positively correlated with adolescents' SCC and SSS.•SCC and SSS were negatively correlated with adolescents' SA.•SCC and SSS mediate the association between suzhi and SA.•Suzhi's indirect correlations with SA were significantly stronger via SSS than via SCC.

The aim of this study was to test if self-concept clarity and subjective social status mediate between psychological suzhi and social anxiety. Participants were 614 Chinese adolescents (40.4% male; aged 12-19 years, M = 15.49 years, SD = 1.76); they completed measures of psychological suzhi, social anxiety, self-concept clarity, and subjective social status. Structural equation modeling was used to test for a mediating effect; self-concept clarity and subjective social status were found to fully mediate between psychological suzhi and social anxiety. The indirect effect was stronger via subjective social status than via self-concept clarity. These findings suggest that self-concept clarity and subjective social status underlie psychological suzhi's effect on adolescents' social anxiety.