Higher Levels Of Shyness Research Articles

Opening the Gateway to Oral Participation: Exploring Facilitative Contextual Factors in the Association Between Student Shyness and Hand Raising

This field study examined factors that might influence hand raising in students with high levels of shyness. Data were assessed using student self-reports of shyness and social relatedness factors (student-teacher relationship and peer relationship), observations of instructional factors (wait time, warm calling, class size, and school subject), and behavioral measures of hand raising among 204 middle school students during a school week. Multilevel analyses show that student-teacher relationship and warm calling facilitate hand raising of highly shy students, but also that they less likely raise their hands the better their peer relationship. Thus, the results suggest that both social relatedness and instructional factors can promote hand raising in highly shy students, opening the gateway to their oral participation.

An examination of the relationship between conduct problems and depressive symptoms comorbidity and temperament among elementary school children.

Although the comorbidity between conduct problems (CP) and depressive symptoms (DS) is associated with a host of negative outcomes, the factors, such as temperament, that might explain this comorbidity in school-aged boys and girls are poorly understood. This study compared elementary school children presenting co-occurring CP and DS to children with DS only, CP only, and those with low-level symptoms on temperament dimensions, and explored the moderating role of child sex in the associations. Participants are 487 children (M = 8.38 years, SD = 0.92, 52.2% girls) divided into four groups (CP + DS, DS only, CP only, control). Findings suggest that boys with CP and DS presented a lower level of fear than boys with DS and boys from the control group. They also presented higher levels of activity than boys with DS. Girls with CP and DS presented lower levels of fear than girls with DS, lower levels of approach and activity than girls with CP, and higher levels of shyness than girls from the control group. These findings suggest that temperament may discriminate children with comorbid CP and DS from those presenting only CP or DS.

Infants in Dutch daycare: Exploring fine‐grained dimensions of temperament

AbstractInfants attend daycare at an early age, which raises questions about children's sensitivity to the childcare environment and the role of different temperamental traits in their development in the early years. In a two‐year longitudinal study with parent‐ and caregiver‐reported data for Dutch children at the age of 1 and 2 years (120 children from 92 groups), we explored fine‐grained dimensions of negative affect and their relationship with socio‐emotional functioning. Especially shyness, frustration and soothability proved robust predictors of socio‐emotional development across parent‐ and caregiver‐reported data with both concurrent (Year‐1) and predictive associations (Year‐2). Also, the quality of caregiver–child interactions moderated caregiver‐reported child wellbeing and competence. Infants that are open to social contacts, are easy to comfort and have low levels of frustration, and have higher levels of wellbeing and less problem behaviour in early daycare than peers with higher levels of shyness and frustration and relatively low levels of soothability.

A Review of the Impact of EFL Teachers' Affectivity and Surgency and Learners' Shyness on Their Language Attainment.

Teaching is considered as a complex and demanding profession affected by a number of student-related and teacher-related factors. Instructors’ personality trait has been long scrutinized as an influential issue, which can facilitate or impede the learning process. Teachers’ affective factors and personality types (e.g., surgency) are among the most commonly studied aspects of educational research, particularly English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. The review of related studies suggests that extrovert teachers are more likely to encourage EFL learners to pursue their educational objectives and master the target language effectively because they can create friendly and positive learning conditions where learners are engaged in classroom activities. This will be primarily prominent for EFL learners with higher levels of shyness. Such students prefer to remain reticent during the course, evade engaging in collaborative tasks, and tend to use a number of avoidance strategies while facing a stressful situation. Hence, language teachers are recommended to employ a variety of techniques as well as appropriate tasks in order to help these pupils overcome their negative affective characteristics so that they can enjoy learning the content and producing the target language in a facilitating and inspirational atmosphere.

Perceived Stress and Short-Form Video Application Addiction: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Nowadays, short-form video applications have become increasingly popular due to their strong appeal to people, especially among college students. With this trend, the phenomenon of short-form video application addiction (SVA) also become prominent, which is a great risk for individuals’ health and adaptation. Against this background, the present study aimed to examine the association between perceived stress and SVA addiction, as well as its mechanism—the mediating role of self-compensation motivation (SCM) and the moderating role of shyness. A total of 896 Chinese college students was recruited to complete a set of questionnaires on perceived stress (PS), SCM, shyness, and short-form video applications. The results show that PS was positively associated with SVA, and SCM partially mediated this association. In addition, both the direct association between PS and SVA and the indirect effect of SCM were moderated by shyness and were stronger for individuals with higher levels of shyness. The results could not only deepen our understanding of the underlying factors of SVA but also provide suggestions for relevant prevention and intervention procedures.

Shyness and prosocial tendencies during adolescence: Prospective influence of two types of self-regulation.

Although children's self-regulation has been widely regarded as a panacea, there may be individual differences in the adaptiveness of self-regulatory processes depending on temperamental factors. We examined whether individual differences in two conceptually distinct types of self-regulation (i.e., emotion self-regulation, nonemotion self-regulation) moderated the association between shyness measured during late childhood (N = 1284; 49.8% girls, 84.1% White, mean parental education fell between associate's degree/diploma and undergraduate degree) and prosocial tendencies indexed approximately two years later during early adolescence. We found that children's shyness was negatively associated with adolescents' prosocial tendencies only at high levels of emotion self-regulation, and that shyness was positively related to prosocial tendencies only at low levels of nonemotion self-regulation. In the context of relatively higher levels of shyness, being "over" emotionally regulated may interfere with positive socioemotional outcomes. These findings may provide additional insight into the heterogeneity of self-regulation, and why some shy children may be reluctant to engage in prosocial acts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Revisiting Shyness and Sociability in Schizophrenia: A Psychometric Examination of Measurement Invariance and Mean Level Differences

Although there is a long and rich empirical history of demonstrating differences on psychological self-report measures between people with schizophrenia and healthy controls, the question of whether both groups respond to psychological measures in the same way has gone largely unexplored. That is, is there measurement equivalence, or invariance, across the samples? To our knowledge, there have been no published studies on measurement equivalency in personality measures across groups diagnosed with and without schizophrenia. Here we examined the question of measurement invariance on two widely used questionnaires assessing temperament, the Cheek and Buss Shyness and Sociability Scales (CBSHY and CBSOC, respectively) between 147 stable adult outpatients with schizophrenia and 147 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Results supported measurement invariance of the CBSHY and CBSOC across our clinical and non-clinical groups. These findings suggested that stable adult outpatients with schizophrenia and age- and sex-matched controls respond to the shyness and sociability items in the same way. We found that adults with schizophrenia reported higher levels of shyness and lower levels of sociability than healthy controls, consistent with prior studies. Findings are discussed concerning their relevance more broadly to self-report assessments of personality and psychological traits in clinical populations.

Social Cognition, Self-Perceptions, and Social Withdrawal in Adolescents

This study explored individual differences in emotion recognition within the context of social orientations and self-perceptions. One hundred and forty-four Canadian adolescents (88 girls, 11–14 years), with a mean age of 13.4 years completed emotion recognition, perceived self-competencies, social preferences (shyness, unsociability, and regulated withdrawal), and social (dis)satisfaction measures. The highest scores were related to epistemic or neutral emotions, followed by negative and finally positive emotions. Furthermore, there were relationships between high levels of emotion recognition (negative emotions) and low levels of physical and global self-worth. Positive correlations were found between high levels of shyness and the ability to recognise negative and epistemic emotions, and experience feelings of low self-worth, with girls scoring higher than boys in recognising positive emotions. Adolescents characterised by high shyness and high social satisfaction (i.e., conflicted shyness) scored the highest on emotion recognition and feelings of low self-worth. Implications for the refinement of theory and research on social withdrawal and social cognition are discussed.

Shyness and empathy in early childhood: Examining links between feelings of empathy and empathetic behaviours.

Although shy children have been described as less empathetic than their more sociable peers, this may be due to a performance rather than a competence deficit. The aim of this study was to explore the moderating role of shyness in the association between empathic feelings and empathic-related reactions. Participants were 212 preschoolers (Mage =58.32months, SD=10.72). Children provided self-reports of empathetic feelings, parents rated child shyness and empathic behaviours (e.g., reparative behaviours), and teachers assessed indices of socio-emotional functioning (e.g., prosocial behaviours). Results revealed interaction effects between empathic feelings and shyness in the prediction of outcome variables. Among children with lower levels of shyness, empathy rated by children was positively related to empathetic and reparative behaviours (rated by parents) and prosocial behaviours (rated by teachers). At higher levels of shyness, these relations were attenuated. These results can be interpreted to suggest that although shy children may not differ from their more sociable counterparts in experiencing empathy, they seem to be less likely to act empathically.

Assessment of social skills in adolescents with obsessive compulsive disorder

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare social skills of adolescents diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), with their healthy counterparts. Methods: Seventy adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years were included in this study. Case group comprised 33 adolescents meeting DSM-5 criteria for OCD at any certain period of their lives and control group comprised 37 healthy adolescents. Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Children’s Global Assessment Scale, sociodemographic data form, UCLA Loneliness Scale, submissive acts scale, shyness scale and social comparison scale (SCS) were applied. Results: Adolescents in the OCD group had lower SCS scores and higher shyness scores (p=0.003, p=0.043). Parents of adolescents with OCD reported higher rates of struggles on the part of their children in making friends as well as higher odds of being excluded by their peers (p=0.001, p=0.005). Parents of children in the case group reported less number of friends for their children, and higher levels of shyness; however this did not reach a statistically significant difference between two groups (p=0.212, p=0.368). Discussion: Lower SCS scores obtained in adolescents with OCD were thought to be related to their perfectionist nature and self-perceptions of not being good enough. Scoring significantly higher on shyness scale might be related to their tendencies to avoid social occasions and interactions in order to hide their symptoms.

The relationship between perceived interpersonal competence and self-disclosure in an online context: The moderating role of shyness.

The purpose of this study is to examine the reported level of self-disclosure in online communication and understand the relationship between perceived interpersonal competence and self-disclosure in an online context, taking into account the moderating role of shyness. The study sample consists of university students (N=585). Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses revealed that, controlling for participants' online media use, shyness moderated the relationship between online self-disclosure and perceived interpersonal competence. Moderation results showed that the relationship between online self-disclosure and perceived interpersonal competence was weaker for individuals with higher levels of shyness, and stronger for those with moderate or low scores on the shyness measure. The study's implications and contributions to the existing literature are discussed.

The important role of dACC in shyness.

Shyness is often characterized by the avoidance of social contact, the fear of other people's evaluations and a lack of self-esteem. Generally, individuals with high levels of shyness are more likely to suffer from psychosomatic stress and social anxiety. However, the structural brain basis of individual shyness among healthy people has not yet been investigated with DTI (diffusion tensor imaging). Thus, in this study, we investigated the relationship between FA (fractional anisotropy), WMV (white matter volume), GMV (gray matter volume) and shyness in a large healthy sample of 318 college students. Multiple regression was used to analyze the correlations among regional FA, WMV, GMV and shyness, adjusting for age, sex, and total intracranial volume. The results showed that shyness was significantly, negatively associated with FA, WMV and GMV in a cluster that included the dACC (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex) and the MCC (middle cingulate cortex) and was significantly positively associated with the GMV in the IPL (inferior parietal lobule), an effect that may have been related to the weaker ability to regulate emotion in these participants and their state of being overly worried about others' evaluations. Finally, mediation analyses revealed that the correlation between shyness and psychosomatic stress was mediated by a region including the dACC and the MCC.

C - 37SPECT Cerebral Blood Flow Differences Between Self-Reported Low and High Levels of Shyness and Self-Esteem

C - 37SPECT Cerebral Blood Flow Differences Between Self-Reported Low and High Levels of Shyness and Self-Esteem

Association between Shyness and Social Conformity among Adolescents

This study evaluated the association between shyness and social conformity among adolescents. The sample consisted of equal number of (240 each) boys and girls aged between 18 to 25 years and were chosen from 9 different colleges from Mysore. The students completed Shyness questionnaire (D’ Souza, 2006) and Social Conformity Scale (Mehrabian,1995).Contingency coefficient analysis was used as a statistical measure. Results of the present study indicated a significant association between shyness and social conformity. Those participants with higher levels of shyness had higher levels of social conformity and those who had lower levels of shyness had lower levels of social conformity.

Associations between child and teacher characteristics and quality of teacher–child relationships: the case of Hungary

The purpose of the current study was to investigate variations in teacher–child relationships in childcare classrooms in Budapest, Hungary (N = 172 children in 43 classrooms), and to examine whether variations were associated with child and/or teacher characteristics. In addition, cultural variation was examined with reference to an American comparison group (N = 36 children in nine classrooms). Teacher–child relationships were found to vary in the in levels of closeness, conflict and over-dependence. There was more variation within as opposed to between classrooms, indicating that child attributes play an important role in teacher–child relationships. Girls had better relationships with their teachers than boys, characterised by higher levels of closeness and lower levels of conflict. Higher levels of shyness were associated with more conflicted teacher–child relationships for boys, and less conflicted ones for girls. Teachers with higher levels of neuroticism and depression tended to report more conflicted relationships with children. Hungarian teachers reported more closeness in their relationships with younger children, whereas American teachers reported higher levels of relationship closeness with older children. Hungarian teachers reported higher levels of over-dependence of the children in their classrooms than did American teachers. Educational implications as well as limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Shyness and Relationship Satisfaction: Evaluating the Associations Between Shyness, Self-Esteem, and Relationship Satisfaction in Couples

In the present study we explored the relationship between personality characteristics and relationship satisfaction in couples. Using a sample of 14,807 couples from the RELATE dataset, a model was tested examining the direct and indirect (via self-esteem) associations between personality traits (i.e., shyness) and relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, the model assessed shyness, self-esteem, and relationship satisfaction for both partners in the relationship. The results indicated that higher levels of shyness were associated with lower self-esteem in individuals, as well as lower relationship satisfaction. Implications of results and the use of partner ratings of personality indicators are discussed.

Teacher–Child Relationships in Prekindergarten: The Influences of Child and Teacher Characteristics

The purpose of the current study was to investigate child and teacher characteristics associated with closeness and conflict in prekindergarten teacher–child relationships. Child gender and temperament were significantly associated with closeness and conflict. Specifically, higher levels of shyness correlated with closer relationships for boys than for girls. Additionally, higher levels of child anger were associated with more conflicted relationships for boys and less conflicted relationships for girls. An association was also found between frequency of teacher–child interactions and relationship conflict. Children who had more interactions with teachers had more conflicted relationships. Implications for teacher education and professional development are discussed.

TOWARDS EXPLAINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SHYNESS AND LONELINESS: A PATH ANALYSIS WITH AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Numerous studies have observed a robust correlation between shyness and loneliness but few have attempted to explain why this relationship exists. This study assessed the extent to which variables associated with self-presentation approaches to shyness and social support mediated the association between shyness and loneliness. Two hundred and fifty-five American college students completed self-report measures of shyness, loneliness, expectations of rejection, interpersonal competence and close social support. A path analysis indicated that high levels of shyness were related to features of a protective style of self-presentation (perceived deficits in interpersonal competence, heightened expectations of rejection). In turn, low levels of interpersonal competence predicted reductions in social support. Together, measures indicative of a protective self-presentation style and reductions in social support predicted increases in loneliness. However, shyness and loneliness had a significant association, even after controlling for the influence of self-presentation and social support. Findings suggest that although features of protective self-presentation and social support may partially explain the association between shyness and loneliness, shyness and loneliness are also directly related.

Perception differences and levels of shyness

This investigation advanced six research questions focusing on the perceptions that individuals with high and low levels of shyness have concerning how others perceive them. Results demonstrated that individuals with high levels of shyness feel that others perceive them negatively while individuals with low levels of shyness view others as evaluating them positively. Given these findings, this report discusses future research in the area of shyness.