The mediating role of self-disclosure in the relationship between masculine gender role stress and foreign language classroom anxiety

ABSTRACT

The excessive anxiety male EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students feel in their foreign language classrooms may have considerable drawbacks on their verbal and productive performances. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of self-disclosure in the relationship between masculine gender role stress and foreign language classroom anxiety. This research embraced a quantitative research design by utilizing a survey. Data were collected from male Turkish EFL learners (n = 227). Male gender was determined through self-identification. A closed-ended questionnaire including a demographic part and three scales was administered: Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety, Masculine Gender Role Stress, and Self-disclosure. The findings were analyzed by using Pearson Correlation Test and the mediation model proposed by Hayes (2018). There was a positive and significant correlation between masculine gender role stress and foreign language classroom anxiety. Also, each of these two variables had a negative and significant correlation with self-disclosure. Further, self-disclosure mediated the relationship between masculine gender role stress and foreign language classroom anxiety. These findings suggest that the excessive masculine gender role stress that participants possess in language classrooms is likely to decrease their self-disclosure skills, which might increase their foreign language classroom anxiety.

KEYWORDS:

• Foreign language classroom anxiety
• masculine gender role stress
• self-disclosure
• masculinity
• foreign language education

Acknowledgments

We are thankful to the reviewers for their constructive suggestions. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Bill Grebe for proofreading the earlier version of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The dataset of this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study has not received any specific funding from public, private, or non-profit agencies.

Notes on contributors

Muhammed Kök

Muhammed Kök is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English Language Teaching at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. He is currently working as a research assistant at Ondokuz Mayıs University in Samsun, Türkiye. His research interests include extramural English, language teacher education, interculturality, critical pedagogy, and gender roles in EFL settings.

Adem Kantar

Adem Kantar is a research assistant in the Department of Psychology at Erzurum Teknik University in Erzurum, Türkiye. He holds his Master’s degree from Ankara University, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the field of psychological counseling. His research interests include masculinity, social media use and prosocial behaviors.