This discussion of an episode of mass hysteria in a Malay college in West Malaysia examines stress and conflict in relation to the interpretive process within a specific social setting. Unlike previous studies, which conceptualize mass hysteria as a cathartic response to accumulated stress, the present study treats stress as a matter of definition in a specific sociocultural context rather than as an objective given from which predictions can be made. Objections are raised to the logic of explanations that attribute mass hysteria to environmental stress. What is of concern is how meanings are assigned to events that are experienced as stressful, how participants and observers explain these events, and the consequences that follow from their interpretations.
This paper discusses the prevalence and characteristics of epidemic hysteria among predominantly rural Malay schools in Malaysia. An illustrative episode in a Malay residential girls' school is described, and contributory factors to this outbreak are elaborated. An attempt is made to analyze the complex interweaving of psychological, religious, cultural, and sociological factors in the precipitation of the outbreak.
Objective: Evaluative concerns perfectionism is related to both rumination and social anxiety. However, the mediating role of rumination between two types of perfectionism-namely, evaluative concerns perfectionism and personal standards perfectionism-and social anxiety has yet to be studied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the mediating role of rumination on the association between perfectionism and social anxiety. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 450 Malaysian undergraduate students using self-report questionnaires. Results: Structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that evaluative concerns perfectionism and rumination were significant positive predictors of social anxiety. Multimodel analysis revealed that rumination partially mediated the association between evaluative concerns perfectionism and social anxiety. Conclusions: The results suggested that evaluative concerns perfectionists were more likely to engage in rumination and were consequently more likely to experience social anxiety.