Trait Shyness Research Articles

Shyness, self-focused attention, and behavioral mimicry during social interaction

Behavioral mimicry is the copying of another person’s actions and serves interpersonal functions such as facilitating social reciprocity. Although behavioral mimicry is a ubiquitous phenomenon, there are individual differences in the susceptibility to mimic. Participants engaged in an online interaction with an experimenter who performed planned target behaviors. We coded participants’ mimicking behavior, and participants self-reported their trait shyness and focus of attention during the interaction. We found an indirect effect of shyness predicting behavioral mimicry through self-focused attention. Specifically, higher shyness predicted heightened self-focused attention, which in turn was related to a lower likelihood of mimicking. We speculate that shy individuals may experience internally-focused attention during interactions which may impede their likelihood of perceiving and mimicking their partner’s behavior.

Japanese-American Comparison of Trait Shyness

Japanese-American Comparison of Trait Shyness

Temperament and its relation to social functioning in schizophrenia

We previously noted increased shyness in stable community outpatients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls and that shyness may be a risk factor for social functioning impairment in this population (Goldberg & Schmidt, 2001). We attempted to replicate and extend these findings by comparing the use of a brief trait measure of shyness and sociability (SS; Cheek, 1983; Cheek & Buss, 1981) with the longer Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger, Przybeck, Svrakic, & Wetzel, 1994) used traditionally in work to measure personality dimensions in this population. A group of stable outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 41) and healthy controls (n = 41) matched on age and gender were compared on the SS and TCI measures. Patients were assessed on clinical symptoms using the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) and on social functioning measures using a Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Patients reported significantly higher shyness, retrospective inhibition and harm avoidance, and lower novelty seeking, self-directedness and cooperativeness than healthy adults, replicating previous findings. Shyness and sociability were related to conceptually linked dimensional sub-scales of the TCI and were predictive of social functioning in the patient group. Importantly, scores on these measures were unrelated to symptom profiles and explained additional variance in social functioning beyond clinical symptoms. These findings suggest that individual differences in trait shyness and sociability may influence social functioning in stable outpatients with schizophrenia. The results also support the use of the brief trait measures of shyness and sociability in this population.

特性シャイネス及び感情表出の制御が友人関係満足感及び友人行動量に及ぼす影響

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the trait shyness and the regulation of emotional expression on close friendship behavior at both cognitive and behavioral level. Two hundred and thirty-one undergraduates (111 males and 120 females) completed a) Trait shyness scale, b) regulation of emotional expression scale, c) self-rated satisfaction of friendship and d) checklist of dyadic behaviors with their close friends. The main results were as follows: i) Shy males were less satisfied and had fewer behaviors with their friends than not-shy males. ii) Shy females had fewer behaviors with their friends than not-shy females. iii) Females who marked a high score on regulation of emotional expression were less satisfied of their friendship than low scorers. iv) Only for males, the interaction effects of trait shyness and regulation of emotional expression on close friendships were partly confirmed. The results indicate that trait shyness has negative effects on both dyadic behavior of friendship and friendship satisfaction though excessive emotion expression has negative effects only on friendship satisfaction.

Resting Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Shyness and Sociability in Schizophrenia: A Pilot Study of Community-Based Outpatients

We conducted a pilot study to examine the relations among the patterns of resting regional electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha activity, trait shyness and sociability, and positive and negative symptoms scores in 20 adults with schizophrenia, attending a community-based treatment and rehabilitation center. As predicted, patients' positive symptoms were related to greater relative resting left frontal EEG activity, replicating earlier work. When only adults with low to no positive symptoms were considered, trait shyness was related to greater relative resting right frontal EEG activity, whereas trait sociability was related to greater relative resting left frontal EEG activity. This finding is similar to what is consistently noted in healthy adults. These pilot data suggest that positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia may obscure the relations between personality and frontal EEG asymmetry measures observed in healthy adults.

Resting and reactive frontal brain electrical activity (EEG) among a non-clinical sample of socially anxious adults: does concurrent depressive mood matter?

A number of studies have noted that the pattern of resting frontal brain electrical activity (EEG) is related to individual differences in affective style in healthy infants, children, and adults and some clinical populations when symptoms are reduced or in remission. We measured self-reported trait shyness and sociability, concurrent depressive mood, and frontal brain electrical activity (EEG) at rest and in anticipation of a speech task in a non-clinical sample of healthy young adults selected for high and low social anxiety. Although the patterns of resting and reactive frontal EEG asymmetry did not distinguish among individual differences in social anxiety, the pattern of resting frontal EEG asymmetry was related to trait shyness after controlling for concurrent depressive mood. Individuals who reported a higher degree of shyness were likely to exhibit greater relative right frontal EEG activity at rest. However, trait shyness was not related to frontal EEG asymmetry measured during the speech-preparation task, even after controlling for concurrent depressive mood. These findings replicate and extend prior work on resting frontal EEG asymmetry and individual differences in affective style in adults. Findings also highlight the importance of considering concurrent emotional states of participants when examining psychophysiological correlates of personality.

Stability of shyness, sociability, and social dysfunction in schizophrenia: A preliminary investigation of the influence of social skills training in a community-based stable outpatient sample

Background :W e previously noted a significantly higher degree of retrospec- tive and contemporaneous shyness and sociability troubles in patients with schizophrenia than controls in a community-based stable outpatient sample and greater relative resting right frontal EEG activity (a trait marker of stress) in patients with schizophrenia who were shy. Objective: Here we conducted a preliminary investigation to examine the stability of shyness and sociability in a sample of 37 stable outpatients with schizophrenia, some of whom were either exposed (n = 17) or not exposed (n = 20) to weekly social skills train- ing over a seven month period. Results: We found that shyness and sociability remained stable across all patients, although when the two groups were considered separately, only shyness remained stable in both groups. Sociability was not stable in those patients exposed to social skills train- ing. We also found that, although measures of shyness indexed prior to exposure to the social skills training program significantly predicted pre- and post-social skills training measures, sociability was not related to pre- or post-social skills measures. Individuals with schizophrenia who scored high on trait shyness prior to exposure to social skills training still exhibited problems related to social adjustment following training. Conclusions:The present study appears to be the first to examine the stability of trait-like shyness in schizophrenia. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for under- standing the stability of shyness and sociability and their role in the heterogeneity of symp- tom profiles and pervasive social dysfunction in community outpatients with schizophrenia.

Low salivary cortisol levels among socially anxious young adults: Preliminary evidence from a selected and a non-selected sample

We investigated salivary cortisol levels among socially anxious adults in two separate non-clinical samples using different participant designs. Study 1 examined salivary cortisol, heart rate, and subjective measures of anxiety in response to a self-presentation task in undergraduate students meeting DSM-IV criteria for social phobia. Adults with social phobia displayed significantly lower salivary cortisol compared to their non-socially phobic counterparts, despite being more anxious. Study 2 examined the relation between trait shyness and salivary cortisol in a different sample of undergraduate students who were not selected for individual differences in personality. High trait shyness was related to low salivary cortisol. We speculate that relatively low levels of salivary cortisol in socially anxious people may reflect how the adrenocortical system responds to social stress, allowing socially anxious individuals to cope and adapt to their environment.

Measuring shyness: analysis of the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness scale

A sample of 741 university students completed the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness scale. Item analysis showed that the scale has sound psychometric properties. There was no gender difference in total shyness scores although there were differences on two of the 14 items. A series of confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of several models of the factor structure of the scale and showed that a two-factor model taking into account differences in the direction of item wording provided a satisfactory and parsimonious fit to the data. The implications of the factor structure for understanding the nature of trait shyness are discussed.

Assessment of multiple implicit self‐concept dimensions using the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST)

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST; De Houwer, 2003a) as adapted for the measurement of the implicit self‐concept of personality. The EAST was adapted to allow the simultaneous assessment of the three traits shyness, anxiousness, and angriness. In order to test the EAST's psychometric properties, 100 participants completed a trait EAST, Implicit Association Tests (IATs), and direct self‐ratings. The EAST showed low internal consistencies and correlated neither with the IATs nor with the direct measures. The main problem of the EAST, namely its low reliability, is discussed, and general conclusions regarding the indirect assessment of the personality self‐concept by EASTs are derived. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trait shyness, actual-ought self-discrepancy and discomfort in social interaction

A trait approach was compared to a social cognition approach in predicting discomfort in a laboratory social interaction. The relationships of trait shyness and actual-own/ought-other (AOO) self-discrepancy with multiple aspects of discomfort were evaluated. Results from a canonical correlation analysis showed that the overall relationship between these two predictors of shyness and criteria of discomfort was significant. Partialled multivariate tests of trait shyness and AOO discrepancy revealed that both predictors of shyness were uniquely related to discomfort criteria. A comparison of these analyses revealed that subjective anxiety and negative self-statements made the strongest contribution to trait shyness, while positive self-statements made no contribution. In contrast, both positive and negative self-statements made moderately strong contributions to AOO discrepancy as did the other measures of discomfort. The findings suggest that a social cognition approach is viable in predicting discomfort related to social interaction. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Shyness in self-disclosure mediated by social skill.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Shyness and Social Skills on Self-disclosure. Three scales, the Trait Shyness Scale, the Scale of Social Skill, and the Self-disclosure Questionnaire were administered to 443 university students. Scores on Shyness were highly negatively correlated with those on Social Skills and moderately negatively correlated with Self-disclosure. Furthermore, Self-disclosure scores correlated positively with Social Skills. Separate factor analyses of the Shyness and Social Skills scales yielded four and two factors, respectively. Findings suggest that shy people may have low interpersonal skills and thus, they may hesitate to engage in self-disclosure.

Increased Limbic System Symptomatology and Sensitizability of Young Adults with Chemical and Noise Sensitivities

We previously hypothesized that individual differences in (a) limbic system reactivity and (b) central nervous system sensitizability underlie vulnerability to environmental stimuli, not only in the controversial clinical condition multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), but also in the general population. Earlier research has shown overlaps in the characteristics of persons who report noise and air pollutant sensitivities. This study assessed questionnaire responses of 897 young adult college students who reported high versus low frequency of illness from several environmental chemical odors and concomitantly high versus low sensitivity to environmental noise. Subjects who reported increased rates of illness from chemical odors with or without noise sensitivity scored significantly higher (P < 0.0001) on a measure of limbic system symptomatology derived from ictal sensory, somatic, mnemonic, and behavioral manifestations of temporal lobe epilepsy, The group rating high both for illness from chemicals and for noise sensitivity had characteristics predictive of heightened sensitizability from the animal research on time-dependent sensitization (progressive response amplification to repeated, intermittent stimuli over time): i.e., higher female to male ratio (gender risk factor), increased rates of drug abuse problems in blood relatives (genetic risk factor), trait shyness (hyperreactivity to novelty), and increased carbohydrate craving. Despite the increased family histories of drug abuse and levels of personal anxiety and depression, the chemical- and noise-sensitive group reported the lowest rates of current smoking or personal drug abuse problems and the highest frequency of illness from drinking a small amount of alcohol. Taken together, the findings suggest that limbic system dysfunction associates more with chemical than with noise sensitivity; that individuals with both chemical and noise sensitivity may be the most sensitizable subset of the population for prospective studies, and that, in their substance use patterns, young adults with both chemical and noise sensitivity are more similar to MCS patients than are their peers with chemical or noise sensitivity alone.

Aerobic Exercise and Self-Reported Sleep Quality in Elderly Individuals

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between aerobic exercise, sleep quality, and daytime sleepiness by examining variables that may be associated with exercise in improving sleep (i.e., anxiety, depression, stress, and minor physical symptoms). Specifically, 33 sedentary and 46 exercising men and women (mean age 73, range 60–82) were asked to complete questionnaires on sleep, anxiety, depression, stress, and minor physical symptoms. Next, subjects were asked to complete a 14-day sleep log. The groups did not differ on a number of control variables: age, gender, trait sociability, trait shyness, number of social contacts, and body mass. Analyses revealed that the exercise group had greater sleep quality in the form of greater sleep duration, less sleep onset latency, and less daytime dysfunction. It was also found that exercise seems to be related to sleep quality and daytime naps independent of the psychological variables; however, exercise seems to be related to the other parameters of sleep by mediating the salience of the psychological variables.

Effects of shyness on interpersonal cognition

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of trait shyness on interpersonal cognition. Twenty seven subjects who were high in a self-rated trait shyness scale and twenty four who were low in it conversed with an unknown opposite-sex partner. The subjects (a) rated their impression of their partner, and (b) guessed the partner's rating for themselves. The partners and observers rated the impression of subjects. The main results were as follows. (a) Shy subjects perceived their partner's impression of the activity-related dimension negatively. (b) Shy subjects guessed that they were perceived negatively by their partners. (c) The discrepancy between shy subject guess and observer rating appeared in two cognitional dimensions. These results were discussed in terms of the possibility of a negative perception bias on the part of shy subjects.

視線とシャイネスとの関連性について

Sixty-four women, either scoring high or low on Trait Shyness Scale, were selected from a population of 130 junior college students. An experiment with a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design was conducted, with shyness (high vs. low), interviewer gaze (high vs. low), and interviewer sex (man vs. woman) as its factors. Sitting directly in front of a subject, an interviewer read questions one by one from a list. Two trained judges coded the subject's gaze and speech through a one-way mirror, and later by watching videotaped records. Results showed that high shyness persons gazed less than the others in the high interviewer-gaze condition. In addition, high shyness women tended to talk less than low shyness women.

Self-reported illness from chemical odors in young adults without clinical syndromes or occupational exposures.

The present survey of young adult college students investigated the prevalence of self-reported illness from the smell of the five following common environmental chemicals (cacosmia): (1) pesticide, (2) automobile exhaust, (3) paint, (4) new carpet, and (5) perfume. Sixty-six percent of 643 students reported feeling ill from one or more of the five chemicals; 15% identified the smell of at least four chemicals as making them ill. Ratings of illness from pesticide correlated weakly but significantly with ratings for the largest number of individual symptoms (9 of 11); daytime tiredness and daytime grogginess both correlated at high levels of significance with illness ratings (on a 5-point scale) for four of the five chemicals. The most cacosmic group (CS) included significantly more women (79%) than the noncacosmic group (NS) (49%); women overall were more cacosmic than men (p < .001), even with the significant covariate of depression. Ratings of cacosmia correlated only weakly with scores for depression (r = 0.16), anxiety (r = 0.08), and trait shyness (r = 0.18) in the total sample. On stepwise multiple regression with cacosmia score as the dependent measure, shyness accounted for 5.8% of the variance, while depression, anxiety, sense of mastery, and repression did not enter the equation. Histories of physician-diagnosed hay fever, but not asthma, were more frequent in the CS (16%) than in the NS group (5%). Without the confounds of chronic illness or specific treatment programs, these data are similar to patterns described clinically for a subset of patients with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), including previous data on increased nasal resistance in MCS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

特性シャイネス尺度の作成および信頼性と妥当性の検討に関する研究

Three studies were conducted to construct a scale to measure shyness as a trait and to examine the reliability and validity of the scale. In Study I, 803 university students completed an original version of the Trait Shyness Scale (TSS) along with some other scales assessing tendencies theoretically linked to shyness. Through item analyses, 16 items were selected for the final TSS. Scores on the TSS showed a high internal consistency (α=.890) and a high test-retest reliability (γ=.724). Thus the reliability of TSS was established. The validity of TSS was confirmed by the following results. (1) The TSS score was significantly and positively correlated with the measures of evaluation apprehension, inferiority feeling, and interpersonal anxiety. Inverse relationships were observed between the TSS score and the measures of social expressivity and emotional control. (2) Correlation between the self-rated TSS score and the others (classmates)-rated shyness score of professional schools students (N=68) was γ=.584, p<.001 (Study II). (3) In Study III, 33 university students who had previously completed TSS were videotaped while they were role-playing with other students. Two raters viewed each tape and independently rated the target person on seven impressionistic rating items, including shyness. The rating of shyness was positively correlated with TSS score (γ.=557, p<.001).

Correlates of assertiveness in normal and clinical samples: A multidimensional approach

Recent reviews of the assertiveness literature (e.g., St. Lawrence, 1987) suggest that the majority of the most frequently used measures of self-reported assertion require more empirical attention regarding their psychometric properties before definitive conclusions can be made about their utility for research purposes and for clinical applications. In the present investigation, an attempt was made to expand the construct validity (convergent and divergent) of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (SIB), a multidimensional measure of both difficulty and distress in assertiveness. Findings were obtained from eight independent non-patient and clinical samples on a multitude of measures. Considering assertiveness as a subconstruct of the more complex Shyness construct, predictions were formulated as to the kind and degree of associations that ought to emerge in relating the SIB to a large variety of homologous and more or less non-homologous concepts. Among others, these included private and public self-consciousness, social and non-social (e.g., agoraphobic and blood-injury) fears, punitivity, trait shyness and trait social anxiety, depression (affect and complaints), anger-hostility, self-esteem, dogmatism aspects, social cognition, aggression, interpersonal values (e.g., leadership, support, conformity) and state and trait anxiety. Statistical analyses involved determining associations from simple correlational and higher-order (factor) analyses and from a multidimensional scaling technique (MINISSA). The results converged in providing clear evidence of the convergent and divergent validity of the SIB measuring constructs. Sex differences in the patterns of assertiveness correlates were either small or negligible, the most outstanding exceptions being correlations involving self-esteem in community volunteers (stronger in females) and such interpersonal values as leadership (significant in males but not in females), support and recognition (both significant in females but not in males) in non-psychiatric social skills trainees. In addition, shyness was confirmed as a higher-order concept, broader than assertiveness, encompassing both its affective and its behavioral components. Different types of shyness relating to the affective, behavioral or cognitive components were identified, of which Neurotic/fearful social shyness and Shyness as an anxiety-behavioral syndrome were most prominent, thus providing further support for the idea that shyness is a fundamental aspect of social/interpersonal behavior, personality organization and structure. The different higher-order types of Shyness were orthogonal to General emotionality/Neuroticism/General psychological distress and also to what may be considered subcomponents of the broader Neuroticism/Anxiety concept (e.g., depressive mood and complaints, phobic and obsessive-compulsive symptoms). The implications which the empirical identification of different types of higher-order Shyness constructs has for assessment, treatment planning and treatment evaluation are explored.

Shyness as a final common pathway for two different kinds of inhibition.

This study suggests that the presence of mangers and the anticipation of social evaluation induce state shyness independently of each other and do not interact with trait shyness. This independence was found for 3 different methods of assessing state shyness in real dyadic interaction. Behaviorally, shyness toward strangers, but not evaluative shyness, was indicated by a closed body posture; evaluative shyness, but not shyness toward strangers, was indicated by blushing. Ss' free verbal descriptions of their emotions and cognitions obtained during the videnreconstruction of the shyness-inducing situations revealed that they were less aware of fear of strangers than of fear of social evaluation. These results and developmental considerations suggest that state shyness can be reconstructed as a final common pathway for at least 2 different kinds of inhibitory processes and that trait shyness among adults involves a particular susceptibility to both kinds of inhibition. This view of shyness is related to Gray's (1982) concept of inhibition and to the self-presentational approach to social anxiety by Schlenker and Leafy (1982).