Patterns of shyness in East-Asian and European-heritage students

Abstract

Reviews of the self-report literature suggest that shyness is more prevalent among East Asians than among those of European heritage. We evaluated the generalizability of that claim with four studies comparing students of Asian heritage (AH) and European heritage (EH). Study 1 ( N=897) confirmed a substantially higher rate of self-reported shyness among AH students (68%) than among EH students (44%). In Study 2 ( N=309), the ethnic difference in self-reported shyness was substantially higher for classroom than for social situations. In Study 3 ( N=213), the ethnic difference was strong for cross-ethnicity socializing but nil for same-ethnicity socializing. In Study 4 ( N=250), a behavioral index—classroom participation—was recorded and coded. The observed ethnic difference in participation rate showed a medium effect size comparable to the self-report difference. There was no ethnic difference, however, in the mean complexity and challengingness of the classroom participations or in final course grades. We conclude that the ethnic difference is maximal for classroom participation because the latter situation combines several key contributing factors to Asian shyness.