Anatolii Massanov SELF-CONFIDENCE AS A FACTOR OF PERSONAL ATTRACTIVENESS IN OVERCOMING SOCIAL BARRIERS

(2026) Science and education, 3, 54-63. Odessa.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.24195/2414-4665-2026-3-6

Anatolii Massanov,
Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor,
Professor at the Department of Theory and Methods of Practical Psychology,
The State Institution “South Ukrainian National Pedagogical
University named after K. D. Ushynsky”,
26, Staroportofrankivska, Str., Odesa, Ukraine,
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1002-4941

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE AS A FACTOR OF PERSONAL ATTRACTIVENESS IN OVERCOMING SOCIAL BARRIERS

SUMMARY:

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to deepen scientific understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying the reduction and overcoming of social barriers and the role of self-confidence and personal attractiveness in this process. Despite the considerable body of research on self-confidence, self-efficacy, interpersonal attraction, self-presentation, and difficulties in social interaction, the interrelationships among these phenomena in the context of overcoming social barriers remain insufficiently theoretically integrated. The aim of the study is to theoretically substantiate the role of self-confidence as a personal factor contributing to attractiveness and to reveal the psychological mechanisms through which attractiveness associated with self-confidence may facilitate the overcoming of social barriers in interpersonal interaction. The research methods included analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalisation and systematisation of scientific approaches, structural-functional analysis, theoretical modelling, and interpretation of previous research findings. The theoretical analysis substantiated the role of self-confidence as a personal factor in the formation of attractiveness, whose potential influence is realised through social-communicative manifestations of self-confidence and their perception by an interaction partner. Two interrelated mechanisms through which self-confidence may contribute to the reduction and overcoming of social barriers were distinguished: an intrapersonal mechanism, associated with reducing internal uncertainty and social anxiety and supporting an individual’s readiness for social activity; and an interpersonal mechanism, involving social-communicative manifestations of self-confidence, their perception and evaluation by an interaction partner, and the possible formation of attractiveness as an intermediate link. A structural-functional model integrating both pathways was developed. The model also incorporates a feedback mechanism whereby a favourable response from an interaction partner and positive experiences of social interaction may support an individual’s self-confidence and readiness for further social contact. The proposed model provides a theoretical basis for the empirical examination of the relationships among self-confidence, its social-communicative manifestations, attractiveness, and social barriers, including the hypothesised mediating role of attractiveness.

KEYWORDS:

self-confidence, personal attractiveness, social barriers, interpersonal interaction, social-communicative behaviour, self-presentation, social anxiety, interpersonal perception, psychological distance

FULL TEXT:

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