Abstract
Previous neurological studies of shyness have focused on the hemispheric asymmetry of alpha spectral power. To the best of our knowledge, few studies have focused on the interaction between different frequencies bands in the brain of shyness. Additionally, shy individuals are even shyer when confronted with a group of people they consider superior to them. This study aimed to reveal the neural basis of shy individuals using the delta-beta correlation. Further, it aimed to investigate the effect of evaluators’ facial attractiveness on the delta-beta correlation of shyness during the speech anticipation phase. We recorded electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of 94 participants during rest and anticipation of the public speaking phase. Moreover, during the speech anticipation phase, participants were presented with high or low facial attractiveness. The results showed that, as predicted, the delta-beta correlation in the frontal region was more robust for high shyness than for low shyness during the speech anticipation phase. However, no significant differences were observed in the delta-beta correlation during the baseline phase. Further exploration found that the delta-beta correlation was more robust for high facial attractiveness than low facial attractiveness in the high shyness group. However, no significant difference was found in the low-shyness group. This study suggests that a stronger delta-beta correlation might be the neural basis for shy individuals. Moreover, high facial attractiveness might enhance the delta-beta correlation of high shyness in anticipation of public speaking.
Highlights
Shyness is a personality trait that is ubiquitous in interpersonal communication
The results revealed that high shyness group indicated a less likelihood of participating in the part of the experiment than low shyness group at the end of anticipation and the effect size was within the intermediate range (U = 578.50, Z = –3.95, p < 0.001, r = 0.41)
The results showed that the delta-beta correlation was stronger for high facial attractiveness than for low facial attractiveness in the high shyness group in the frontal and central regions
Summary
Shyness is a personality trait that is ubiquitous in interpersonal communication. It involves an excessive concern about negative evaluation and avoidance of participation in social situations that would otherwise be pleasurable or important to one’s professional or personal growth (Henderson and Zimbardo, 2001). Major electroencephalogram (EEG) studies on shyness have focused on hemispheric asymmetry of alpha (8–13 Hz) spectral power (e.g., Schmidt and Fox, 1994; Schmidt, 1999; Schmidt et al, 1999; Beaton et al, 2008; Jetha et al, 2009). The EEG alpha asymmetry in the frontal region of the brain is associated with the experience of approach-related and avoidance-related emotions (Davidson and Fox, 1982) and approach/withdrawal motivation (Fox and Davidson, 1987).
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