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Does Shyness Vary According to Attained Social Roles? Trends Across Age Groups in a Large British Sample
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated (a) how a composite measure of shyness comprising introversion and neuroticism relates to other well-known constructs involving social fears, and (b) whether mean levels of shyness vary for men and women depending on the adoption of various social roles. METHOD: Study 1 used a sample of 211 UK participants aged 17–70 (64% female; Mage = 47.90). Study 2 used data from a large cross-sectional data set with UK participants aged 17–70 (Ntarget = 552,663; 64% female; Mage = 34.19 years). RESULTS: Study 1 showed that shyness measured as a composite of introversion and neuroticism was highly correlated with other constructs involving social fears. Study 2 indicated that, controlling for various sociodemographic variables, females appeared to have higher levels, whereas males appeared to have lower levels of shyness. Males and females who were in employment had the lowest shyness levels, whereas those working in unskilled jobs had the highest levels and people working in sales the lowest levels of shyness. Participants in relationships had lower levels of shyness than those not in relationships, but parenthood was not associated with shyness. CONCLUSIONS: Mean levels of shyness are likely to vary according to adopted social roles, gender, and age.
... Studies indicating ways of reconciling specific characteristics of individuals that distort the perception of individual skills, such as shyness, in interviews or in the routine of organizations, have been kept out of the discussion -with a few rare exceptions that focus on the link between shyness and the ability to concentrate on technology-related activities (Scholz, 2017), or that discuss shyness as a problem for organizations when it comes to excessive sentimentality in labor relations (McDonnell, 1984). In general, shyness is seen as a trait that needs to be hidden by the candidate and discovered by the employer (Donida, Visentini, & Ferreira, 2018;Van Zalk, Lamb, & Rentfrow, 2017), failing to consider characteristics that may correlate with shyness and that may be attractive to the organization, at a time when creativity is considered one of the individual skills that will make a difference in the careers of 21 st -century workers (Nakano & Wechsler, 2018). In organizations, although the talent selection process is an ongoing challenge, bias variants (Knight, 2017) ISSN: 1983-716X transform this process into a muddle between what the organization wants, what it sees in the individual, and what talents the individual really has to offer. ...
... We considered the results for the variable individual creativity to be adequate in terms of composite reliability and Cronbach's Alpha. Meanwhile, although the extracted variance is below the recommended value of 0.50, the reliability criterion was considered DOI: 10.14210/ALCANCE.V28N3(SET/DEZ).P355-373 CREATIVITY, SHYNESS AND EMPLOYABILITY... … satisfactory because it is a subjective construct, whose limit, according to the literature, is adequate if greater than 0.32 (Tabachnick et al., 2001), as shown in Table 3. ...
Objective: To analyze the relationship between self-perception of creativity, shyness, and employability of the individual.
Methodological procedures: A quantitative research was conducted with 152 respondents through exploratory factor analysis to develop a unified scale of perceived individual creativity and regression analysis to assess the effects of perceived individual creativity and timidity on employability.
Results: Shyness is negatively related to creativity self-perceived. Although more creative individuals are less afraid of becoming unemployed and have more hope of repositioning themselves professionally, there is no evidence of the relationship between employability, creativity, and shyness regarding the previous experience of unemployment. Therefore, this article contributes to understanding how the effects of conditions intrinsic to the individual-specifically, creativity and shyness-can affect their insertion in the labor market. Limitations: The research considered only individuals residing in some regions of Brazil with a level of education above or equal to higher education. Even though creativity may have a different relevance from one sector to the other, the profession was not controlled. Practical implications: This study elucidates how different factors underlying perceived individual creativity have distinct effects on professional insertion. In addition, the article offers a synthetic assessment scale to measure the self-perception of creativity. Theoretical implications: A validated scale of individual creativity was proposed. In addition, this study contributes to the interpretation of specific personality characteristics-like shyness-and individual skills-such as individual creativity as a factor to be considered in studies on human resources and employability. Originality: The study proposes a scale for the perception of individual creativity and separately analyzes the factors that constitute the individual creativity perceived concerning shyness and employability.
... Considerou-se os resultados para a variável criatividade individual percebida como adequados quanto à confiabilidade composta e o Alfa de Cronbach. Por sua vez, a variância extraída, embora abaixo do valor recomendado de 0,50, o critério de confiabilidade foi considerado satisfatório por se tratar de um construto subjetivo, cujo limite, segundo a literatura, é adequado se superior a 0,32 (Tabachnick et al., 2001), conforme exibido na Tabela 3. ...
Objetivo: analisar a relação entre a autopercepção da criatividade, a timidez e a empregabilidade do indivíduo. Procedimentos metodológicos: foi realizada uma pesquisa quantitativa com 152 respondentes, por meio de análise fatorial exploratória, a fim de desenvolver uma escala unificada de criatividade individual percebida e uma análise de regressão para avaliar os efeitos da criatividade individual percebida e da timidez sobre a empregabilidade. Resultados: a timidez está negativamente relacionada à criatividade individual percebida pelos indivíduos. Embora indivíduos mais criativos tenham menos medo de ficar desempregados e tenham mais esperança de se reposicionarem profissionalmente, não há evidências da relação entre empregabilidade, criatividade e timidez, no que diz respeito à experiência anterior de desemprego. Limitações: a pesquisa considerou apenas indivíduos residentes em algumas regiões do Brasil, com grau de escolaridade acima ou igual ao ensino superior. Não foi controlada a profissão, mesmo que criatividade possa ter relevância diferente de um setor econômico para outro. Implicações práticas: contribui para a compreensão dos efeitos de condições intrínsecas ao indivíduo – especificamente, criatividade e timidez – na inserção no mercado de trabalho. Implicações teóricas: foi proposta uma escala validada de criatividade individual. Além disso, o estudo contribui na interpretação de características específicas de personalidade – como a timidez – e de habilidades individuais – como a criatividade individual – como fatores a serem considerados em estudos sobre recursos humanos e empregabilidade. Originalidade: A pesquisa oferece uma escala para mensurar a autopercepção de criatividade e analisa separadamente os fatores que constituem a criatividade individual percebida em relação à timidez e a empregabilidade.
... This might reflect a general lack of attention historically to the developmental period now called "emerging adulthood" (Arnett, 2000). This lack of attention to shyness is perhaps also surprising given recent cross-sectional evidence of age-related increases in shyness during this period, similar to adolescence (e.g., Tang et al., 2017), with significant mean-level increases in shyness in emerging and young adulthood between the 20s and 30s (Brook & Schmidt, 2020;Kwiatkowska et al., 2019;Van Zalk et al., 2017). ...
One long-standing theoretical model of shyness proposes that the origins and maintenance of shyness are associated with an approach-avoidance motivational conflict (Asendorpf, 1990), such that shy individuals are motivated to socially engage (high approach motivation) but are too anxious to do so (high avoidance motivation). However, this model has not been empirically tested in predicting the develop-ment of shyness. In two separate longitudinal studies, we used the Carver and White (1994) Behavioral Inhibition and Activation System (BIS/BAS) scales as a proxy of approach-avoidance motivations and growth curve analyses to examine whether individual differences in these hypothesized motivational tendencies were associated with the development of shyness across 3 years from late childhood to adolescence (Study 1, N = 1284; 49.8% female, Mage = 10.72, SDage = 1.73, M level of parental education fell between associate’s degree/diploma and undergraduate degree) and across nearly a decade from emerging adulthood to young adulthood (Study 2, N = 83; 57.8% females, Mage = 23.56 years, SDage = 1.09 years, 92.8% had at least a high school education). Contrary to the approach-avoidance conflict model of shyness, we found that a combination of high BIS/low BAS, not high BIS/high BAS, was associated with relatively higher shyness contemporaneously and across development in both studies. We discuss the processes that might link individual differences in approach-avoidance motivations to the development of shyness in adolescence and young adulthood.
... The study results of Afrooz show that the increase of the people who have problem in relationships with others, those who have fear of social contacts and are shy, the young people who do not know what to say and how behave when they enter a group, sense of inability to talk to people and lack of cooperation with them, depression and social isolation and fi nally rejection by society (Afroz, 2002). Studies show personality and therefore also shyness is infl uenced by various sociodemographic variables, social roles and important events, which affect stability and lead to changes in personality (Van Zalk, Lamb, & Jason Rentfrow, 2017). Also Poole, Van Lieshout & Schmidt believe emerging evidence suggests that confl icted shyness (combination of shyness and sociability) places individuals at risk for maladjustment in childhood, adolescence, and emerging adulthood (Poole, Van Lieshout, & Schmidt, 2017). ...
The aim of this article is to explore how personal values and the role of the representative influence representation principles when making decisions in natural resource management. This was tested in an empirical case of wildlife management in Sweden, the regional Wildlife Conservation Committees (WCCs). These WCCs consist of a mix of actors in collaborative settings, where both politicians and interest organization representatives make decisions on wildlife related issues. The results show that the value dimension of self-enhancement, associated with giving importance to values such as achievement and power, significantly affects a representational style associated with following the representative's personal preferences when making decisions, the trustee principle. The role of the representative also significantly affects representational style when making decisions in these cases, where the interest organizational representatives more often follow the party principle, i.e., the view of the parties or organization they represent, than the political actors. Age also had a significant impact where older representatives relied more on the trustee principle than their younger peers. The implications of these results are that personal values in this case matters for decision-making, which is in line with earlier research on decision-making on environmental issues. Further, politicians behave atypically for the Swedish context relying more on the trustee principle rather than the party principle, which policy makers should take into consideration when designing collaborative arenas similar to the WCCs.
Contrary to popular belief, the personality traits of shyness and sociability are not merely opposite ends of the same dimension. Over three decades ago, Cheek and Buss (Shyness and sociability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 330–339, 1981) noted that shyness and sociability were conceptually and empirically independent traits. Since then, a number of studies have replicated their initial findings and shown that shyness and sociability are indeed independent personality traits, each with distinct correlates across development. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the conceptual model proposed by Cheek and Buss (1981) and illustrate how shyness and sociability act as a heuristic for assessing avoidance and approach motivation, respectively. Given the relative independence of shyness and sociability, we can examine their interaction to yield four distinct social profiles: sociable (low shyness, high sociability), unsociable (low shyness, low sociability), avoidant shy (high shyness, low sociability), and conflicted shy (high shyness, high sociability). We then review empirical work since the original model proposed by Cheek and Buss that has illustrated distinct behavioral, physiological, and cognitive correlates of these resulting subtypes, as well as the developmental trajectories of shyness and sociability and comment on some of the benefits of shyness and costs of sociability. Considering shyness and sociability as independent traits may further our understanding of the different reasons for multiple types of social withdrawal observed across the lifespan and the adaptive and maladaptive outcomes associated with each trait.
Recent research has identified regional variation of personality traits within countries but we know little about the underlying drivers of this variation. We propose that the Industrial Revolution, as a key era in the history of industrialized nations, has led to a persistent clustering of well-being outcomes and personality traits associated with psychological adversity via processes of selective migration and socialization. Analyzing data from England and Wales, we examine relationships between the historical employment share in large-scale coal-based industries (coal mining and steam-powered manufacturing industries that used this coal as fuel for their steam engines) and today’s regional variation in personality and well-being. Even after controlling for possible historical confounds (historical energy supply, education, wealth, geology, climate, population density), we find that the historical local dominance of large-scale coal-based industries predicts today’s markers of psychological adversity (lower Conscientiousness [and order facet scores], higher Neuroticism [and anxiety and depression facet scores], lower activity [an Extraversion facet], and lower life satisfaction and life expectancy). An instrumental variable analysis, using the historical location of coalfields, supports the causal assumption behind these effects (with the exception of life satisfaction). Further analyses focusing on mechanisms hint at the roles of selective migration and persisting economic hardship. Finally, a robustness check in the U.S. replicates the effect of the historical concentration of large-scale industries on today’s levels of psychological adversity. Taken together, the results show how today’s regional patterns of personality and well-being may have their roots in major societal changes underway decades or centuries earlier.
Recent research has identified regional variation of personality traits within countries but we know little about the underlying drivers of this variation. We propose that the Industrial Revolution, as a key era in the history of industrialized nations, has led to a persistent clustering of well-being outcomes and personality traits associated with psychological adversity via processes of selective migration and socialization. Analyzing data from England and Wales, we examine relationships between the historical employment share in large-scale coal-based industries (coal mining and steam-powered manufacturing industries that used this coal as fuel for their steam engines) and today’s regional variation in personality and well-being. Even after controlling for possible historical confounds (historical energy supply, education, wealth, geology, climate, population density), we find that the historical local dominance of large-scale coal-based industries predicts today’s markers of psychological adversity (lower Conscientiousness [and order facet scores], higher Neuroticism [and anxiety and depression facet scores], lower activity [an Extraversion facet], and lower life satisfaction and life expectancy). An instrumental variable analysis, using the historical location of coalfields, supports the causal assumption behind these effects (with the exception of life satisfaction). Further analyses focusing on mechanisms hint at the roles of selective migration and persisting economic hardship. Finally, a robustness check in the U.S. replicates the effect of the historical concentration of large-scale industries on today’s levels of psychological adversity. Taken together, the results show how today’s regional patterns of personality and well-being may have their roots in major societal changes underway decades or centuries earlier.
Early adolescence poses many challenges for young people, and it is during this phase that social anxiety disorder (SAD) tends to develop. Research indicates that adolescents have a relatively immature neurobiological brake-system (based in the prefrontal cortex) in relation to a more matured alarm- or gas-system (based in the subcortical regions) compared to adults. For this reason, adolescents are more sensitive for developing vicious circles of dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies like avoidance of frightening situations, worry, and rumination as well as sleep disturbances compared to adults—all of which are factors that may contribute to the development of SAD. In this chapter, we explore the genetic, neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, and social explanations as to why some adolescents are more vulnerable for developing SAD than others. We propose a theoretical model, based on a neurobiological model proposed by Sommerville and colleagues (Brain Cogn 72(1):124–133, 2010), where early development of the subcortical regions in combination with late development of the prefrontal cortical regions is expected to predict an increase in emotionally driven behavior as well as difficulties to control them during adolescence. According to our model, we hypothesize that adolescents with poor peer and parent relationships will have a larger developmental gap between these regions compared to adolescents with supportive peer and parent relationships. Finally, we discuss how including mothers, fathers, and peers in the study of social anxiety, and taking into account both emotion regulation and sleep patterns, may be an important next step in the understanding of who may be at risk for developing social anxiety and why.
What are the life-course sequelae of childhood shyness? Using archival data from the Berkeley Guidance Study (Macfarlane, Allen, & Honzik, 1954), we identified individuals who were shy and reserved in late childhood and traced the continuities and consequences of this behavioral style across the subsequent 30 years of their lives. Shy boys were more likely than their peers to delay entry into marriage, parenthood, and stable careers; to attain less occupational achievement and stability; and—when late in establishing stable careers—to experience marital instability. Shy girls were more likely than their peers to follow a conventional pattern of marriage, childbearing, and homemaking. Results are compared with those from our parallel study of childhood ill-temperedness (Caspi, Elder, & Bem, 1987). Despite differences between shyness ("moving away from the world") and ill-temperedness ("moving against the world"), both persist across the life course through the progressive accumulation of their own consequences (cumulative continuity) and by their tendency to evoke maintaining responses from others during reciprocal social interaction (interactional continuity). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Using data from a Swedish longitudinal project, we predicted timing of marriage and parenthood and age-35 career success from mother-rated shyness in 8–10 year old children. Results are compared with those previously found for Americans. Like shy American boys, shy Swedish boys married and became fathers later than nonshy boys. Unlike American boys, Swedish boys' adult careers were not affected by shyness. Like shy American girls, shy Swedish girls later married and became mothers at the same time as their peers. However, they also attained lower levels of education than nonshy girls. Results suggest that the life consequences of shyness depend upon its culturally defined gender and situation appropriateness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two studies investigated the relationship between shyness (tension and inhibition with others) and sociability (preference for being with others rather than being alone) using 952 undergraduates. A factor analysis of shyness and sociability items revealed 2 distinct factors, indicating that shyness and sociability are distinct personality dispositions. Self-reported shyness showed only a moderate negative correlation with self-reported sociability. Furthermore, the measures of shyness and sociability had different patterns of correlations with other personality scales (e.g., the Public and Private Self-Consciousness scales of the Self-Consciousness Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the EASI [Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, Impulsivity] Temperament Survey). On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that shyness is not just low sociability. Next, 4 groups of Ss were selected: shy–sociable, shy–unsociable, unshy–sociable, and unshy–unsociable. Pairs of these Ss, matched for both traits, interacted for 5 min. Shy–sociable Ss talked less, averted their gaze more, and engaged in more self-manipulation than did the other 3 groups. In studying social behavior, it should be known whether Ss are shy but also whether they are sociable. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
How do people effectively regulate their emotional reactions? Why are some people better at this than others? Most prior research has addressed these questions by focusing on deliberate forms of emotion regulation. We argue that this focus has left out an important aspect of emotion regulation, namely, automatic emotion regulation (AER). Our review of the behavioral literature suggests that AER is pervasive in everyday life, and has far-reaching consequences for individuals’ emotions. However, the behavioral literature has yet to address the mechanisms underlying the observed effects. Because it is difficult to directly measure the processes involved in AER, evidence from neuroscientific studies is particularly helpful in addressing these questions. Our review of the neuroscientific literature suggests distinct neural bases for different types of AER, which provides important clues about the cognitive and behavioral processes that might be involved in AER.
This longitudinal, population-based and prospective study investigated the stability, age-related changes, and socio-emotional outcomes of shyness from infancy to early adolescence. A sample of 921 children was followed from ages 1.5 to 12.5 years. Parent-reported shyness was assessed at five time points and maternal- and self-reported social skills and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed at age 12.5 years. Piecewise latent growth curve analysis was applied, with outcomes regressed on latent shyness intercept and slope factors. Results showed moderate stability and increasing levels of shyness across time, with more variance and a steeper increase in early as compared to mid-to-late childhood. Both stable shyness and increased shyness in mid-to-late (but not early) childhood predicted poorer social skills and higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms in early adolescence. The implications of the evidence for two developmental periods in shyness trajectories with differential impact on later socio-emotional functioning are discussed.
Does personality change across the entire life course, and are those changes due to intrinsic maturation or major life experiences? This longitudinal study investigated changes in the mean levels and rank order of the Big Five personality traits in a heterogeneous sample of 14,718 Germans across all of adulthood. Latent change and latent moderated regression models provided 4 main findings: First, age had a complex curvilinear influence on mean levels of personality. Second, the rank-order stability of Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness all followed an inverted U-shaped function, reaching a peak between the ages of 40 and 60 and decreasing afterward, whereas Conscientiousness showed a continuously increasing rank-order stability across adulthood. Third, personality predicted the occurrence of several objective major life events (selection effects) and changed in reaction to experiencing these events (socialization effects), suggesting that personality can change due to factors other than intrinsic maturation. Fourth, when events were clustered according to their valence, as is commonly done, effects of the environment on changes in personality were either overlooked or overgeneralized. In sum, our analyses show that personality changes throughout the life span, but with more pronounced changes in young and old ages, and that this change is partly attributable to social demands and experiences.
Socially anxious children and adolescents have previously been found to have friends with similarly socially anxious, withdrawn behavioral characteristics. How peers might socialize social anxiety over time has, however, not been thoroughly investigated. We examined this in a sample of 834 youths (339 girls and 495 boys; M=14.29), followed for 3 years. We used the social network analysis software SIENA to analyze the data. The results showed that youths who were socially anxious were less popular and chose fewer friends in the network. They also tended to choose friends who were socially anxious, and over time they influenced each other into becoming more socially anxious--over and above other effects. Finally, girls' social anxiety was more influenced than boys' by their friends' social anxiety levels. The results showed the significance of looking at socially anxious youths' friendships over time and embedded in social networks.
The present longitudinal study investigated cascade effects linking the longitudinal trajectories of shyness and aggressiveness between age 4 and 23 and individual differences in this longitudinal relationship. Results demonstrated that there were cascade effects from shyness to adjacent measures of aggressiveness at three moments in time, and that the dynamics of these relationships changed over time. Children who were shy at age 6 became less aggressive at age 7 and the same effect was found between age 8 and age 10. From adolescence to early adulthood, the direction of the relationship changed and shy adolescents at age 17 became increasingly aggressive 5 years later. Interindividual differences were found in the latter cascade effect in that shyness at age 17 only predicted an increase in aggressiveness at age 23 for adolescents receiving low levels of support from their parents and for adolescents spending little time in part-time work. Together, findings suggest the importance of examining the development of normal variations in personality and personality disorders from a developmental perspective and taking into account person-environment interactions.
Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional aging research has shown that personality traits continue to change in adulthood. In this article, we review the evidence for mean-level change in personality traits, as well as for individual differences in change across the life span. In terms of mean-level change, people show increased selfconfidence, warmth, self-control, and emotional stability with age. These changes predominate in young adulthood (age 20-40). Moreover, mean-level change in personality traits occurs in middle and old age, showing that personality traits can change at any age. In terms of individual differences in personality change, people demonstrate unique patterns of development at all stages of the life course, and these patterns appear to be the result of specific life experiences that pertain to a person's stage of life.
Cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits were examined in a nationally representative sample of Australians (N = 12,618; age range = 15-84). Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness were negatively associated with age, whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were positively associated with age. Effect sizes comparing the youngest and the oldest sample members were usually medium to large in size. Item-level analysis revealed that although most personality descriptors showed patterns similar to those exhibited by their respective global traits, this was not always the case. Thus, investigations of narrower aspects of personality may reveal more nuanced age differences and may begin to explain contradictory results from different studies.
Speech and heart rate were continuously monitored during 7 days from morning to evening in 41 Grade 2 children selected for high or low parental judgments of sociability and shyness. Children attended school in the mornings and were free in the afternoons; the child's social situations in the afternoon were reconstructed with the child and a caretaker. During the afternoons sociable children spent more time in conversations than unsociable children, but the groups did not differ in their verbal participation within conversations. Shy children spent as much time in conversations and spoke as much in familiar situations as nonshy children but spoke less in moderately unfamiliar situations. Neither sociability nor shyness had an effect on heart rate reactivity. The results show that sociability affects the exposure, and shyness the reactivity, to situations and that these traits are clearly distinct despite some similarity in lay judgments of personality.
Controversies exist concerning the influence of age on the stress and coping process, in part due to differences in methods
across studies. We examined age differences in stress, appraisal, and coping, using both semistructured interview questions
and a coping checklist in middle-aged, young-old, and old-old men. Despite extensive probing, nearly a quarter of the old-old
reported having had no problems and they expended less coping effort even when they did have problems. The types of problems
reported varied systematically with age. Middle-aged men were more likely to appraise their problems both as challenges and
as annoyances than the older men. Different age patterns emerged from the coping interviews vs the checklists, but controlling
for type of problem significantly attenuated age differences. However, there were no age differences in perceived stressfulness
of the problem, appraisals of harm/loss, or helpless appraisals, number of emotions reported, or coping efficacy. One interpretation
of these results is that the nature of stress changes with age, from episodic to chronic, which in turn affects appraisal
and coping processes.
The authors review the development of the modern paradigm for intelligence assessment and application and consider the differentiation between intelligence-as-maximal performance and intelligence-as-typical performance. They review theories of intelligence, personality, and interest as a means to establish potential overlap. Consideration of intelligence-as-typical performance provides a basis for evaluation of intelligence-personality and intelligence-interest relations. Evaluation of relations among personality constructs, vocational interests, and intellectual abilities provides evidence for communality across the domains of personality of J. L. Holland's (1959) model of vocational interests. The authors provide an extensive meta-analysis of personality-intellectual ability correlations, and a review of interest-intellectual ability associations. They identify 4 trait complexes: social, clerical/conventional, science/math, and intellectual/cultural.
Although personality characteristics figure prominently in what people want in a mate, little is known about precisely which personality characteristics are most important, whether men and women differ in their personality preferences, whether individual women or men differ in what they want, and whether individuals actually get what they want. To explore these issues, two parallel studies were conducted, one using a sample of dating couples (N = 118) and one using a sample of married couples (N = 216). The five-factor model, operationalized in adjectival form, was used to assess personality characteristics via three data sources-self--report, partner report, and independent interviewer reports. Participants evaluated on a parallel 40-item instrument their preferences for the ideal personality characteristics of their mates. Results were consistent across both studies. Women expressed a greater preference than men for a wide array of socially desirable personality traits. Individuals differed in which characteristics they desired, preferring mates who were similar to themselves and actually obtaining mates who embodied what they desired. Finally, the personality characteristics of one's partner significantly predicted marital and sexual dissatisfaction, most notably when the partner was lower on Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Intellect-Openness than desired.
The present study examined the prevalence of social phobia in the Swedish general population and demographic characteristics associated with this anxiety disorder.
Data were obtained by means of a postal survey administrated to 2000 randomly selected adults. A questionnaire, validated against clinical interviews and established social phobia scales, was used to assess social distress in a broad range of phobic situations, as well as the diagnostic criteria for social phobia corresponding to DSM-IV. Interpretable questionnaires were obtained from 1202 respondents (60.1%).
The point prevalence of social phobia was estimated at 15.6%, but prevalence rates varied between 1.9 and 20.4% across the different levels of distress and impairment used to define cases. Public speaking was the most common social fear. Social phobia was associated with female gender, low educational attainment, psychiatric medication use, and lack of social support.
Although the exact diagnostic boundaries for social phobia are difficult to determine, it can be concluded that social anxiety is a distressing problem for a considerable proportion of the general population.
The present study used meta-analytic techniques (number of samples = 92) to determine the patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course. Results showed that people increase in measures of social dominance (a facet of extraversion), conscientiousness, and emotional stability, especially in young adulthood (age 20 to 40). In contrast, people increase on measures of social vitality (a 2nd facet of extraversion) and openness in adolescence but then decrease in both of these domains in old age. Agreeableness changed only in old age. Of the 6 trait categories, 4 demonstrated significant change in middle and old age. Gender and attrition had minimal effects on change, whereas longer studies and studies based on younger cohorts showed greater change.
The present study examined individual differences in change in extraversion, neuroticism, and work and relationship satisfaction. Of particular interest were the correlations between changes. Data were from the Victorian Quality of Life Panel Study (B. Headey & A. Wearing, 1989, 1992), in which an overall 1,130 individuals participated (ages 16 to 70). Respondents were assessed every 2 years from 1981 to 1989. Four major findings emerged. (a) There were significant individual differences in changes in extraversion and neuroticism. (b) Change was not limited to young adulthood. (c) Development was systematic in that increased work and relationship satisfaction was associated with decreases in neuroticism and increases in extraversion over time; on average, the magnitude of the relation between changes in work and relationship satisfaction and traits was .40. (d) Cross-lagged models indicated traits had a greater influence on role satisfaction; however, marginal support emerged for work satisfaction leading to increased extraversion. Implications of correlated change are discussed.
Beyond the distress that the shy person experiences in social situations, one is tempted to ask what difference shyness makes. It is one thing to assert that shyness is related to self-reports of anxiety, self-esteem, fearfulness, etc., and quite another to demonstrate its relevance to overt social behavior or its impact on the development or continuation of important and ongoing personal relationships. Shyness is often conceptualized as a dimension of personality, and in that regard it is important to note that the concept of personality is used in two distinct ways in psychology: personality refers to (a) internal psychological structures and dynamics (e.g., individual differences, traits, expectations, beliefs, etc.); and (b) the reputation an individual acquires within the context of a social group. Some personality psychologists have recently emphasized not only the need to examine the linkages between these two conceptualizations, but also that the primary purpose of investigating personality in the former sense is to explain personality in the latter sense (e.g., Hogan, 1983). Similarly, the focus of this chapter is to examine research relating shyness (conceived as a relatively stable dimension of personality) to social behavior, relationships, and the reactions of others.
In this article, we present an integrative perspective on temperament and personality development. Personality and temperament are conceptualized as regulatory systems that start as physiological reactivity to environmental features early in life, but are increasingly supplemented by regulation efforts oriented toward reference values such as personal goals and social norms. These reference values change during development as society expects increasingly mature behaviors, but it takes regulatory resources and incremental practice before people can conform to these higher standards. Consistent with this view, a meta-analysis of mean-level development of personality traits in adolescence revealed a decrease in conscientiousness and openness during early adolescence. Negative discrepancies between reference values and actual behavior are apparently responsible for decreases in perceived maturity, but more direct evidence is needed to support this claim.
We propose that individual differences in personality should be studied during periods of environmental change because these periods provide an opportunity to discern the general mechanisms that govern the functions and processes of personality. We delineate the circumstances wherein personality differences are accentuated and then specify the conditions whereby change is produced. Personality differences are likely to be revealed during transitions into unpredictable new situations, when there is a press to behave but no information about how to behave adaptively. Dispositional differences are thus accentuated as each person seeks to transform novel, ambiguous, and uncertain circumstances into familiar, clear, and expectable social encounters. Our theory also accounts for turning points in behavioral development: Systematic change is likely to occur during transitions into new situations, when there is a press to behave and when previous responses are actively discouraged while clear information is provided about how to behave adaptively.
The current study examines the combined effects of temperamental activity and shyness on the growth in children's internalising problems from infancy to middle childhood. Participants were n = 921 parents from a population-based longitudinal sample in Norway. Mothers reported child temperamental traits and internalising problems when children were 1.5, 2.5, 4.5, and 8.5 years old. Shyness (but not activity) was found to predict increased internalising behaviour across all time points. Temperamental interaction effects were also observed and activity level appeared to act as a protective factor in the development of internalising problems for shy boys, but not for shy girls. Results are discussed in terms of gender-specific relational mechanisms and processes that may occur between infancy and 8.5 years of age.
The terms shyness and introversion are often used interchangeably in everyday language. However, shyness as a construct is conceptually distinct from the wellknown dimensions of introversion (-extraversion) and neuroticism. In a hierarchical model of personality traits, shyness is a primary factor whereas introversion and neuroticism are higher order factors. The implications of this distinction were examined by comparing several shyness scales with Eysenck and Eysenck's (1968, The manual of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service) measures of introversion and neuroticism. The results show (1) that shyness items (as well as scales) correlate about equally with measures of introversion and neuroticism, suggesting that the construct of shyness should be located somewhere between these orthogonal dimensions; and (2) that only two items on the Eysencks' scales seem to measure shyness directly—their scales apparently correlate with shyness primarily because they assess constructs related to shyness such as sociability and self-esteem.
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.
The relationship between shyness and self-esteem was assessed for two samples of children aged 9 to 12 years. Shyness was measured by a new self-report questionnaire based on an elicitation of children's conceptions of shyness. Shyness was significantly correlated with measures of global self-esteem, with external locus of control and with perceived competence across different domains of the self. The relationship among variables were similar to those reported for adolescents and adults. Girls were more shy than boys, and there was a suggestion that 11-year-old children were more shy in secondary than in primary school.
In this study, the correlates of embarrassability, or chronic susceptibility to embarrassment, were examined. Competing theoretical models suggest either that embarrassable people should be especially concerned about others' evaluations of them or that they should lack social skills. Further, shyness and embarrassment are typically considered to be closely related states. To test these propositions, 310 participants provided extensive self-reports of social skill, fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, self-consciousness, and negative affectivity. Regression and factor analyses indicated that, compared to those of low embarrassability, highly embarrassable people are particularly concerned with the normative appropriateness of behavior and are more motivated to avoid rejection from others. In contrast, shyness was best predicted by low social self-confidence and low social skill. The data best support a social-evaluation model of embarrassment and argue that embarrassability is linked to the appropriateness of social behavior, and shyness to its effectiveness.
The relations of teachers' and parents' reports of children's shyness (i.e., social inhibition) at ages 6-8, 8-10, and 10-12 years to dispositional regulation, emotionality, and coping were examined. Shyness was positively related to internalizing negative emotion, coping by doing nothing, and, for parent-rated shyness, behavioral inhibition/nonimpulsivity, attention focusing, and avoidant coping; it was negatively related to positive emotionality, instrumental coping, seeking support from teachers (at younger ages), and for teacher-rated shyness, attentional control. Often prediction held over several years and/or across reporters. Parent-reported internalizing negative emotion at age 4-6 predicted shyness at ages 6-8 and 8-10, but primarily for children low in attention shifting. Teacher-rated shyness was related to low social status; parent-rated shyness correlated with boys' adult-rated social status at age 4-6 and with style of social interaction, particularly for girls. The relation between parent- and teacher-reported shyness decreased with age. The overall pattern of findings was partially consistent with the conclusion that parent-rated shyness reflected primarily social wariness with unfamiliar people (i.e., temperamental shyness), whereas teacher-rated shyness tapped social inhibition due to social evaluative concerns.
The aim of this paper is to provide the prevalence rates of mild, moderate and severe symptoms of social anxiety in a sample of high school students and to analyze gender differences and associated impairment levels within these three levels of severity. Five hundred and twenty students were assessed with the Social Anxiety Spectrum Self-Report (SHY-SR), a questionnaire that explores social anxiety spectrum. By applying two cut-off scores determined on a separate sample by using ROC analysis, the large majority (73.3 %) of subjects were classified as low scorers, 9% as medium scorers and 17.7% as high scorers. Fears related to social situations were reported both by high and medium scorers. Functional impairment defined by avoidance and school difficulties was more common among high scorers, but it was also reported to a significant extent by medium scorers. Compared to low and medium scorers, high scorers showed a higher F/M ratio (about 4:1) and a more homogeneous symptomatological profile in the two genders. In conclusion, our report confirms, in line with the literature, that even moderate levels of social anxiety are associated with significant functional impairment and distress for the individuals.
The primary objectives of this investigation were to examine the attributions, emotional reactions, and coping strategies of shy/withdrawn and aggressive girls and boys and to examine whether such social cognitions differ within the relationship context of friendship. Drawn from a sample of fifth and sixth graders (M age = 10.79 years; SD = .77), 78 shy/withdrawn, 76 aggressive, and 85 control children were presented with hypothetical social situations that first involved unfamiliar peers, and then a mutual good friend. Results revealed group and gender differences and similarities, depending on the relationship context. From our findings emerges a central message: friends' involvement during interpersonal challenges or stressors mitigates children's attributions, emotions, and coping responses.
In a 19-year longitudinal study, childhood personality characteristics (assessed by teachers at ages 4 to 6) were significantly related to both initial levels and changes in parental judgments of shyness and aggressiveness. Long-term stability was demonstrated by the fact that overcontrollers had consistently higher scores in shyness and undercontrollers in aggressiveness. However, undercontrollers' shyness and overcontrollers' aggressiveness changed over time from a low to a high level. Also, both types assumed adult social roles, such as leaving the parental home, establishing a first romantic relationship, and getting a part-time job, at a later time than the resilient participants. A mediation analysis indicated that under- and overcontrollers' increasing aggressiveness between age 17 and 23 was due to their longer latency of getting a part-time job. Together, results demonstrate the importance of considering person-environment transactions in explaining both change and stability in personality between childhood and adulthood.
Shyness and social relationships: Continuity and change
- W R Crozier
Crozier, W. R. (2000). Shyness and social relationships: Continuity
and change. In W. R. Crozier (Ed.), Shyness: Development, consolidation and change (pp. 1-21). London: Routledge.
Childhood and adolescent shyness in long-term perspective: Does it matter?
- M Kerr
Kerr, M. (2000). Childhood and adolescent shyness in long-term perspective: Does it matter? In W. R. Crozier (Ed.), Shyness: Development, consolidation and change (pp. 64-87). London: Routledge.
Shyness: What it is, what to do about it
- P G Zimbardo
Zimbardo, P. G. (1977). Shyness: What it is, what to do about it.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.