The college environment significantly shapes students' social development, yet many experience social anxiety that affects their mental health. Trait resilience has been identified as an important psychological resource that may influence how individuals regulate emotions and cope with stress, which could be relevant to understanding social anxiety. Focusing on college students, this study examines the extent to which trait resilience, emotion regulation, and coping strategies contribute to the mitigation of social anxiety, emphasizing their potential roles as mediators in this psychological process. This study surveyed 748 college students using questionnaires to assess their trait resilience, social anxiety, emotion regulation, and coping strategies. The data were obtained via an online questionnaire, employing random sampling of university students from different regions in China during the period from November 2024 to January 2025. The dataset was processed through SPSS, which was applied to carry out statistical descriptions, examine variable correlations, and explore mediating effects. The study found a significant negative correlation between trait resilience and social anxiety (r = - 0.486, p < 0.001). In the mediation analysis, the direct effect of trait resilience on social anxiety remained significant (β = - 0.173, 95% CI - 0.224, - 0.121). Additionally, cognitive reappraisal (β = 0.047, 95% CI 0.001,0.096), expressive suppression (β = - 0.019, 95% CI - 0.037, - 0.002), approach coping strategies (β = - 0.145, 95% CI - 0.185, - 0.107), and avoidance coping strategies (β = - 0.025, 95% CI - 0.045, - 0.006) all played mediating roles between trait resilience and social anxiety. This study shows that higher trait resilience has been linked to lower social anxiety, with emotion regulation and coping strategies playing key mediating roles. These findings provide a basis for designing interventions to reduce social anxiety in college students. Future research should focus on enhancing trait resilience and promoting positive emotion regulation.