Shyness as a behavioral characteristic has been in focus of research in psychology for a number of decades. Adolescent shyness has, however, been relatively overlooked compared with studies conducted on children and adults. This dissertation concentrated on adolescent shyness, aiming to attain a better comprehension about how shyness during this developmental phase might affect, and be affected by social relationships. The first aim of this dissertation was to study in which way shyness influences and is influenced by significant people in adolescents’ lives: peers, friends, and parents. Study III showed that shy youths socialized each other over time into becoming even more shy. Study VI demonstrated that youths’ shyness affected parenting behaviors, more so than parent’s behaviors affected youth shyness. The second aim of this dissertation was to investigate what shyness means for adolescents’ choices of relationships with friends, whereas the third aim focused on whether adolescents’ ways of dealing with peers would have consequences for their internal and external adjustment. As Study I showed, youths might take on off-putting, startling appearances in order to cope with their shyness. This strategy seemed, nonetheless, not particularly successful for the shy youths in terms of emotional adjustment. Study III showed that adolescents who were shy tended to choose others similar to themselves in shyness as friends. Study II showed that shyness might indeed have some positive implications for adolescent development, as it was found to serve a protective role in the link between advanced maturity and various types of problem behaviors. Overall, the findings point to some gender differences regarding all of the abovementioned processes. In sum then, the studies in this dissertation show that even though youths’ shy, socially fearful characteristics affect their emotional adjustment and those around them, shy youths are part of a larger social arena where they are active agents in shaping their own development. Although adolescent shyness might be linked with several negative outcomes, however, it might be other people’s reactions to socially fearful behaviors that help create and/or maintain these outcomes over time.

I min uppsats fördjupar jag mig i arbetet kring de som i allmänna ord benämns för blyga barn. Vad innebär det egentligen att vara blyg, är det ett personlighetsdrag som är svårt att ändra på, eller ett tillstånd som behöver bearbetas för att nå utveckling? Eller kan det rentav vara något som är ärftligt och därmed inte påverkbart? Vad innebär blyghet i förskolan för barnet och pedagogen och hur kan pedagoger lyfta de barn som inte syns eller hörs. Är det överhuvudtaget något att oroa sig över och isåfall vad kan man göra för att stötta de blyga barnen i deras fortsatta utveckling. Genom att använda mig av sociokulturella och normkritiska perspektiv försöker jag tolka hur dessa två aspekter påverkar synen på blyghet. I denna uppsats utgår jag från mina egna erfarenheter för att i efterhand reflektera över hur min egen syn, förskolans och samhällets syn påverkar oss i det dagliga bemötandet. / In my essay I try to get a better understanding of those who in general words are called shy children. What does it really mean to be shy, is it a personality trait that is difficult to change, or is it a condition that needs to be processed to further development? Or could it perhaps be something that is hereditary and thus impossible to affect? What exactly does shyness mean in the preschool for the child and the teacher, and how can the teachers try to reach children who are not usually seen or heard. Is it at all something to worry about, and if so, what can you do to support them in their continued development. Through the use of different perspectives such as the socio-cultural and norm-critical, I try to see how various aspects influence the view on shyness. In this essay, I use my own knowledge and previous experiences in order to reflect on how my own, the preschool and society's view affects us in the daily approach.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:56:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mariana Batista Vieira.pdf: 1714155 bytes, checksum: 79d5543c24789064d0d7da01a33559ea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-20 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The recent study had as goal understand how is the constitution of the identity from a person who express shyness and the situations of exclusion-inclusion that this person may come to suffer at school. The theory of identity from Antonio da Costa Ciampa was used as the theoretical basis. Accordingly to Ciampa (2007), identity is metamorphosis, and metamorphosis is life, the idea of moviment and continuous transformations are part of a identity process . The shyness is defined by Wallon ([1938] 1985) as one emotion and accordingly to the materialism dialetic, theoretical basis of Ciampa (2007) and Wallon ([1938] 1985) can be understood that shyness is a human condition that can be developed in social relationships. Two participants that experienced situations involving shyness on their lives and on the school environment were chosen. Using a qualitative approach, life s narrative, autobiographical memories and non-direct and reflexives interviews were used as resource. The participant´s narratives were analyzed separately then the differences and resembles of both lives were exposed. The data demonstrate that the participants grew as shy persons on the familiar and social ´s relationships and both suffered of exclusion on the school through the visibility-invisibility and on the second participant´s narrative are situations of bullying. Can be noted that are moments that the participants remains the same or they can get over the shyness towards an emancipatory transformation / O presente estudo teve como objetivo compreender a constituição da identidade da pessoa que expressa a timidez e as situações de exclusão-inclusão que essa pessoa possa vir a sofrer na escola. Utilizou-se como base teórica a teoria da Identidade elaborada por Antônio da Costa Ciampa. Segundo Ciampa (2007), identidade é metamorfose e metamorfose é vida, a ideia de movimento e de contínuas transformações constituem o processo identitário; complementando, a timidez é definida por Wallon ([1938] 1985) como sendo uma emoção e, partir do materialismo-dialético, fundamento teórico adotado por Ciampa (2007) e Wallon ([1938] 1985), entende-se a timidez como uma condição humana que se desenvolve nas relações sociais. Foram escolhidos dois participantes cujas trajetórias de vida e trajetórias escolares foram marcadas por situações de timidez. A partir de uma abordagem qualitativa, utilizou-se como método a narrativa de vida dos participantes a partir do recurso de memórias autobiográficas e de entrevistas não-diretivas e reflexivas, pois o método (auto)biográfico é uma alternativa e opção para fazer a mediação entre a história individual e a história social. As narrativas dos participantes foram analisadas separadamente e em um segundo momento levantaram-se as diferenças e semelhanças entre as duas histórias de vida. Os dados demonstram que os participantes se constituíram como pessoas tímidas nas relações familiares e sociais e ambos sofreram situações de exclusão no âmbito escolar, por meio da visibilidade-invisibilidade e, na narrativa do segundo participante, apareceram situações em que foi vítima de bullying. Constataram-se momentos em que os participantes ora permanecem na mesmice, ora superam a timidez em direção a uma metamorfose emancipatória

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-04-17T10:42:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Mariana Batista Vieira.pdf: 1332091 bytes, checksum: f0590214bc361aec1352be069c13c0a5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-17T10:42:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mariana Batista Vieira.pdf: 1332091 bytes, checksum: f0590214bc361aec1352be069c13c0a5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-15 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / This thesis aimed to understand the relationship between shyness and affective-emotional expressivity; the theoretical foundation used was the theory of Henri Wallon, which defines shyness as being an emotion; it is the fear that one has toward people and is related to the sensitivity to the presence and/or approach of the other. From the biographical and life history method, a study of the (auto)biography of the poet Carlos Drummmond de Andrade was made in primary source and secondary source and, through non-directive and reflexive interviews, was revisited the narrative of Vinícius, one of the participants in the dissertation: "Shyness and exclusion-school inclusion: a study on identity."; two interviews of the masters period were used and a new interview was held for this moment. It was decided to present the data in two moments: in the first one, the life narrative of the participant Vinícius was presented also some (auto)biographical data of the poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade and the use of letters and poems as examples of the facts of life of the poet; in the second one, using the free-docency thesis of Lígia Assumpção do Amaral as a inspiration, the two lives were compared from a semi fiction narrative. The data demonstrate that the shyness is configured as a problem for the participant Vinícius because it is used as justification for the non-confrontation of the world; in this way, there is the fetichization of the personage Vinícius-timid in the familiar, professional and social spheres, taking it to a condition of sameness; for this analysis we used the Ciampa Identity Theory. In contrast, the (auto)biography of Carlos Drummond de Andrade reveals an active person who, even with timidity, positions himself on the events of his time. Finally, it is understood that the writing of poems is one of the forms of affective-emotional communication and expression of the shy person as evidenced in Drummond's (auto)biography / Esta tese teve como objetivo compreender a relação entre timidez e expressividade afetivo-emocional; utilizou-se como fundamentação teórica a teoria de Henri Wallon, que define a timidez como sendo uma emoção; é o medo que se tem frente às pessoas e está relacionada à sensibilidade à presença e/ou aproximação do outro. A partir do método de história de vida e (auto)biográfico foi feito um estudo da (auto)biografia do poeta Carlos Drummmond de Andrade em fonte primária e em fonte secundária e, por meio de entrevistas não-diretivas e reflexivas, revisitou-se a narrativa de Vinícius, um dos participantes da dissertação: “Timidez e exclusão-inclusão escolar: um estudo sobre identidade.”; utilizou-se as duas entrevistas da época do mestrado e realizou-se uma nova entrevista para este momento. Optou-se por apresentar os dados em dois momentos: no primeiro, apresentou-se a narrativa de vida do participante Vinícius e alguns dados (auto)biográficos do poeta Carlos Drummond de Andrade e o uso de cartas e poemas como exemplos dos fatos da vida do poeta; no segundo, tendo como inspiração a tese de livre-docência de Lígia Assumpção do Amaral, comparam-se as duas vidas a partir de uma narrativa de semificção. Os dados demonstram que a timidez se configura como um problema para o participante Vinícius pelo fato dela ser usada como justificativa para o não enfrentamento do mundo; dessa maneira, há a fetichização do personagem Vinícius-tímido nos âmbitos familiar, profissional e social, levando-o para uma condição de mesmice; para essa análise recorreu-se à Teoria da Identidade de Ciampa. Em contraposição, a (auto)biografia de Carlos Drummond de Andrade revela uma pessoa ativa que, mesmo com timidez, se posiciona sobre os acontecimentos de sua época. Por fim, compreende-se que a escrita de poemas é uma das formas de comunicação e expressão afetivo-emocional da pessoa tímida conforme evidenciado na (auto)biografia de Drummond

Social anxiety is a disorder where people fear social interactions and is associated with physiological changes. Eye tracking studies have shown that people with social anxiety spent more time gazing at emotional faces presented on a computer screen and spent more time gazing at the eye region. There has been limited studies on tracking eye gaze in a real-life setting interacting with another person. We used a wearable eye tracker during a brief one-on-one interview about participants’ challenges faced at work or school. Along with self-report psychological measures about social anxiety and shyness, we also measured participants’ salivary cortisol as a metric for physiological stress. We hypothesized that socially anxious individuals would have higher cortisol levels and spent more time gazing at the face. However, there was no change in cortisol levels before and after the interview. In addition, socially anxious individuals had lower cortisol levels than less anxious people. Furthermore, the time spent fixating on the region of interest (ROI), which was the face, was not correlated with social anxiety, anxiety or shyness. Paradoxically, the more socially anxious participants seem to have had a lower physiological stress response than less socially anxious participants.

This essay deals with the subject of communication through Facebook. In this survey we studied 100 youths from Karlstad and their communication habits and behavior patterns on Facebook. The social network site Facebook has since its start in 2004 made a mark in modern communication. Today in 2010 the site has more than 500 million users. This paper wants to study what happens to other types of communication. Has the increased use of computer-mediated communication led us away from face to face or has it encouraged us to use face- to face communication more often? Our target group for this study is people attending their final year in high school. In this study we have been using both qualitative- and quantitative methods to collect our data. The result of the study suggests that a big part in our target group is happy to use Facebook or other computer-mediated sites as ways of their communication. Partly because they think it is a convenient way to communicate but also because they find it easier to get in touch with people, both close friends and people they have never met, by using computer-mediated communication instead of face-to-face communication. Virtually all in our target group suggests that Facebook has helped them in their communication and that they are more social now than before. This paper also has sought to illuminate if shy people can be helped to establish social ties through computer-mediated communication.Keywords: Facebook, communication, face-to-face, computer-mediated communication and shyness

The aim of this study was to explore temperament, psychopathology and quality of life (QOL) in adolescents born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW), i.e., < 1000g. ELBW adolescents (N = 15) completed the Revised Cheek and Buss Scale and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0.0 (M.I.N.I.), while their legal guardians completed a biographical questionnaire and the Short Form 12 version 2. The median age of the sample was 13 SD = 2.526 years (60% male) and all participants spoke English. ELBW adolescents with social phobia (n = 6) were more shy (p = .041) and had poorer mental health-related QOL (p = .041) than those without such symptoms. The results suggest that ELBW could be a predisposing factor for increased shyness and psychological disorders including social phobia. Planning of interventions for ELBW individuals should therefore include strategies to prevent or mitigate the effects of these factors in adolescence / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The purpose of the study is to examine how the shy child is portrayed in four children's books. Vem ska trösta Knyttet? and Det osynliga barnet from the 1960s and also Snäll and Gittan och gråvargarna from the 2000s. The analysis is based on a gender perspective where the epochs are significant. The method is a children's literature analysis since it's considered appropriate in this study. The theoretical foundation in the study is gender theory, as research on gender was of great importance to the children's book during the 1960s and even today. The result of the study illustrate how the shy child is portrayed in different ways in the children's literature and is made visible through the appearance, behavior and environment around the child. The children experience a change as their characteristics range from female to male stereotypical characteristics. The shy children are perceived more or less as invisible as they are associated with loneliness, exclusion and silence. The result is discussed in connection with the norm-critical work at school. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur det blyga barnet gestaltas i fyra barnböcker. Vem ska trösta Knyttet? och Det osynliga barnet från 1960-talet samt Snäll och Gittan och gråvargarna från 2000-talet. Analysen utgår från ett genusperspektiv där tidsepokerna är betydande. Den metod som använts är en barnlitteraturanalys då det ansågs passande i den här undersökningen. Den teoretiska förankring som genomsyrar studien är genusteori då forskning kring genus fick stor betydelse för barnboken under 1960-talet och än idag. Studiens resultat belyser hur det blyga barnet gestaltas på olika sätt i barnlitteraturen och synliggörs genom utseende, beteende och miljö kring barnet. Samtliga barn genomgår en förändring i form av förändrade egenskaper som går från kvinnliga stereotypa egenskaper till manliga stereotypa egenskaper. De blyga barnen uppfattas mer eller mindre som osynliga då de förknippas med ensamhet, utanförskap och tystnad. Tre av de fyra barnen hämmas av tystnaden medan en belyser kontroll med sin tystnad. Text och bild samverkar för att belysa barnets inre samt yttre förändring i samband med ett identitetsskapande. Resultatet diskuteras i samband med det normkritiska arbetet i skolan.

Syftet med denna avhandling var att undersöka på vilket sätt och i vilken utsträckning blyga personer skiljer sig från icke-blyga personer med avseende på deras attributionsmönster. Resultaten från 3 kvantitativa och 1 kvalitativ studie visar en något annorlunda bild av hur blyghet relaterar till social kognition jämfört med tidigare forskning i området. Följande 4 huvudsakliga slutsatser drogs. (1) Blyga personer har inte nödvändigtvis en snedvriden social kognition eftersom de uppvisade en mindre aktörs–observatörsskillnad jämfört med icke-blyga personer. (2) Det är sannolikt att blyga och självfokuserade personer bedömer sina emotionella reaktioner som orsakade av stabila interna orsaker snarare än mindre stabila interna och externa orsaker. Om blyga personer är mindre självfokuserade så tenderar dessa personer ändå att uppvisa detta attributionsmönster. (3) Blyghet snarare än beteendemässig inhibition har betydelse för vilka orsaker som tillskrivs emotionella reaktioner medan blyghet och beteendemässig inhibition interagerar när det gäller i vilken grad fritt valda orsaker upplevs vara orsakade av interna respektive externa faktorer. En slutsats av dessa resultat är att fortsatt forskning bör fokusera hur människor i sin vardag förklarar sina egna och andra människors beteenden och reaktioner. (4) Mycket blyga personer kan uppleva identitetsförvirring samt kan ha en ambivalent önskan om att vara blyg samtidigt som blygheten försvinner. Trots att dessa resultat pekar på ganska allvarliga konsekvenser av att vara blyg så verkar blyghet generellt betraktas i ett ganska positivt ljus. / The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how and to what degree shy individuals differ from non-shy individuals regarding their attributional patterns. The results from 3 quantitative and 1 qualitative study paint a somewhat different picture of how shyness is associated with social cognition compared to previous research in the field. The following 4 main conclusions were drawn. (1) Being shy does not necessarily imply distorted social cognitions since shy people exhibited less of a self–other difference compared to non-shy people. (2) Being self-focused and shy means that emotional reactions are likely to be perceived as caused by stable internal causes rather than less stable internal and external causes. If shy people are self-focused to a lesser extent there is still a tendency for these individuals to exhibit this attributional pattern. (3) Shyness is more important than behavioral inhibition in determining ascriptions of causes to emotional reactions, whereas shyness and behavioral inhibition interact in determining people’s perceptions of the degree to which freely chosen causes are caused by internal and external factors, respectively. One conclusion of these findings is that future research needs to focus on how people in everyday life really explain their own and other people’s behaviors and reactions. (4) Very shy people can experience identity confusion as well as a conflicting wish to stay shy and to overcome shyness at the same time. Even though these results imply quite severe consequences of being shy, in general shyness seems to be viewed in quite a positive light.

The number of children in classrooms is constantly increasing, causing shy children to become more invisible in the classroom. Thompson&Rudolph (2000: 542) indicate that shyness and withdrawal are attempts to avoid participation in one’s surroundings. The researcher is of the opinion that if shyness is not adequately addressed during middle childhood, it can continue to limit the potential of shy people. Shyness is not generally considered as problematic behaviour for children in their middle childhood. Shyness inhibits children to express themselves. They rarely participate in class and usually hold an irrational negative view of themselves. There is a need for shy children to be able to express themselves, in order to gain optimally from the school setting. Play therapy is based on developmental principles and thus provides, through play, developmentally appropriate means of expression and communication (Landreth&Bratton, 1999:5). Group therapy complements the normal developmental tasks that further children’s capacities for social interaction and intimacy. The researcher conducted intervention research. Many facets of intervention research are both qualitative and quantitative in nature, depending on the distinctive elements of the particular research project (De Vos, 2002a:368). Due to both the qualitative and quantitative nature of intervention research, the researcher employed Creswell’s dominant-less-dominant model in order to accommodate both research approaches. The goal of this study was to explore the impact of group play therapy on the social skills of shy children in their middle childhood. The researcher conducted a one-group pretest-posttest design in order to measure “shyness” as well as social skills before and after intervention. Seeing that the quantitative paradigm answered the research question of this research project, it was utilized as the dominant approach. Through comparing the pre-test and post-test scores, the researcher realized that group play therapy has a positive impact on the social skills of shy children. The unstructured observation provided the researcher with a better insight into the phenomena of shyness, and represented the qualitative approach. By combining the two research approaches, the researcher was able to achieve the outlined goal and objectives of this study. Further research into effective implementation of group play therapy to address shyness in the middle childhood years is recommended. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted