Shyness

Shyness refers to anxiety, discomfort or inhibition experienced within the context of social settings or interpersonal interactions. Researcher Phillip Zimbardo (1977) estimated that 40% of Americans are shy, and has suggested that a large percentage (80%) of the population has experienced some form of shyness at some point in their lives. In most cases, shyness may reflect a normal emotional response elicited by a particular circumstance or situation. However, for some individuals shyness is characterized as an enduring trait in which anxiety and discomfort are experienced consistently across a wide variety of social settings and interpersonal interactions.

Arnold Buss (1986) developed an influential theory in which he describes two types of shyness: a fearful shyness, which develops around the age of seven months, and a self-conscious shyness that emerges in early childhood. Buss argues that the two forms develop independently, and the conditions that elicit them are very different. Fearful shyness first [Page 500]appears shortly after infants have developed secure attachments to caregivers and is manifested in terms of stranger wariness. This form of shyness, elicited by social novelty, generally continues through the first year and then gradually declines by the end of the second year. For some individuals, however, this type of shyness may persist throughout life, although older children and adults may become better skilled at masking their fears. Buss argues that similar to the basic emotion of fear, this form of shyness is associated with autonomic arousal and may include symptoms such as, accelerated heart rates and increased blood pressure. Jerome Kagan (2000) has focused on the physiological basis of such shyness and perceives social inhibition as a temperamental characteristic that is relatively stable throughout early childhood.

Kagan and his colleagues at Harvard University found physiological differences between sociable and shy babies as early as two months of age. Based on their findings, it is estimated that approximately 15% to 20% of newborns are biologically predisposed to be quiet, vigilant, and inhibited within novel situations. In response to novel stimuli, such as a moving mobile, inhibited infants demonstrate more physiological arousal manifested in terms of increased heart rates, jerky movements of the legs and arms, excessive fussiness, crying, and distress. Accelerated heart rates during the fetal period have also been linked to inhibition or shyness during infancy and childhood. Environmental factors, however, also play a role as approximately 25% of the time a physiological predisposition for shyness does not develop into shyness. Kagan suggests that a physiologically reactive temperament may be aggravated by stressful environmental factors such as inconsistent or unreliable parenting, family conflict, excessive criticism, or stressful school environments.

Just as the development of fear shyness is tied to the normal development of stranger wariness, the origin of self-conscious shyness is also tied to normal developmental processes. The cognitive abilities associated with public self-awareness develop between four and five years of age. Public self-awareness is a prerequisite to experiencing the emotions of embarrassment or self-consciousness. Self-conscious shyness is elicited by feeling exposed to the scrutiny of others and involves concern with how one is evaluated by peers. Self-conscious shyness is also associated with preoccupation or negative evaluations of one's own thoughts and behaviors. The anxiety stemming from this preoccupation may make it difficult to tune in to what others are saying and may interfere with a child's ability to communicate effectively.

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