This study explores the temporal and spatial characteristics of social anxiety in contemporary China and the macro mechanisms of influences on it at the regional level by constructing a social anxiety index and a panel data model based on the Baidu search popularity of anxiety-related terms. The study shows that at the provincial level

the level of social anxiety has been fluctuating and increasing in recent years; in coastal and central regions

the level of anxiety is relatively higher and is further increasing over time; and in northern and northwestern regions

the level of anxiety is also increasing gradually. It is found through fixed-effects model that factors such as urbanization rate and housing price have a statistically significant impact on social anxiety at the provincial level. In this study

Baidu search index at the regional level is used to measure social anxiety and carry out research on mechanism

which is an attempt to use big data for macro-quantitative sociological analysis.