abstract: Although researchers often conceptualize shyness as stable across different situations (e.g., Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009), evidence has suggested that shyness may consist of situation-specific components (e.g., Asendorpf, 1990a; 1990b; Gazelle & Faldowski, 2014; Xu & Farver, 2009). This study was aimed at developing a systematic measurement tool for situational shyness in adolescence, as well as examining the relations between situational shyness and other popular measures of shyness and between situational shyness and adjustment. A sample of Chinese adolescents (N = 492) from an urban school participated in the study during 7th (T1) and 8th (T2) grades. Adolescents self-reported their situational shyness using a new measure of hypothetical scenarios, as well as their general shyness, anxious shyness, regulated shyness, depressive symptoms, and loneliness. Peers reported adolescents’ general and conflicted shyness, and popularity and peer rejection. The school provided records of their academic achievement (exam scores). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the situational shyness measure consistently supported that shyness in the hypothetical scenarios can be separated into three components: shyness with familiar peers, shyness with unfamiliar peers, and shyness in formal situations. These components had differential associations with other measures of shyness. Self-reported general and anxious shyness were related consistently to shyness with unfamiliar peers and in formal situations, and occasionally to shyness with familiar peers. Self-reported regulated shyness was not related to self-reported shyness in any situation. Peer-reported conflicted shyness was associated with shyness with familiar and unfamiliar peers, whereas peer-reported general shyness was associated with shyness with unfamiliar peers and in formal situations. Moreover, situational shyness showed differential relations to maladjustment. Shyness with familiar peers was associated positively with maladjustment in multiple domains, especially academic and peer difficulties. Shyness with unfamiliar peers and shyness in formal situations, in contrast, were associated primarily with internalizing problems. In addition, shyness with unfamiliar peers and in formal situations occasionally related to positive adjustment, suggesting shyness in specific situations may still be protective in contemporary urban China. The findings provided new evidence that the correlates of shyness depend on the situation in which shyness occurs, and may inform future intervention programs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2019

Shyness is characterized by anxious and reluctant behaviors that may put children at risk for underperforming academically. Previous research has observed that active behavioral engagement in the classroom improves academic performance, however, shy children show deficits in this type of engagement. The current study examined whether behavior skills training (i.e., instruction, modeling, rehearsal and feedback) improved active engaged behavior in pre-K and kindergarten-age children using a multiple baseline across participants design. Four children between 3 to 5 years of age with varying shy behaviors as reported by their parents were asked to complete a series of math worksheets prior to and during intervention. Participants’ hand -raising and question asking were measured. Due to limitations, it is unclear whether the present study’s BST protocol was effective in increasing engagement. Future research should examine the use of BST, in-situ training, and application of skills in the natural setting.

The high rate of mental problems among university students is considered a public health issue; however, many of these students do not seek treatment. Higher education is a part of the journey to maturity, and it can create anxiety disorders due to an overload of worry, dread, and problems (Dias Lopes, Chaves, Fabrício, Porto, Machado de Almeida, Obregon, Flores Costa, 2020). This project aims to address the shy state, one of the sensitive representatives and is easy to influence by others; it is common among young university students nowadays.  Based on the influence of others on shy people repeatedly mentioned in the shy trait, the project creates a tool that faces both shyness and people who get along with shy people in the university. In more detail, the project aims to encourage people who struggle with the shy state to become self-awareness and self-diagnosis; meanwhile, to convey understanding to other personalities about what shyness is through visual language. Furthermore, the workshop guide generated based on the art therapy from the designer’s perspective will also provide for the universities’ well-being services which could help shy people desensitize the embarrassing moment and reduce their negative self-perception.

Researchers have examined how shyness influences broad aspects of relationships (i.e., quality, satisfaction); however, little is known about how shyness impacts sexuality, specifically, within committed relationships. This study examined associations between shyness and sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction within committed young adult relationships. Potential explanations for these associations (i.e., fear of negative evaluation and body esteem, consecutively) were also examined. Participants included 3,670 individuals (61.6% female) ages 30-35 from the United States who were in committed dating or marital relationships. Results revealed that shyness was negatively associated with sexual frequency and satisfaction among men and women. In addition, fear of negative evaluation via body esteem mediated these associations. The discussion considers the implications of shyness and the associated processes and sexual outcomes in young adulthood.

Social withdrawal is often associated with a number of indices of adjustment and maladjustment, but little research exists that attempts to uncover potential protective factors. This study longitudinally examined the moderating role of parent extraversion and parent warmth on the association between two types of social withdrawal (shyness and unsociability) and later indices of adjustment and maladjustment. Participants were 463 families from the flourishing families project. Results showed no longitudinal associations between social withdrawal and later indices of adjustment or maladjustment. However, when parent extraversion was added as a moderator, shyness was positively associated with prosocial behavior for those with introverted parents, and positively associated with shame for those with highly extraverted parents. Implications are discussed.

No description available.

<p>Numerous studies have suggested that shyness and sociability may be orthogonal personality traits, each of which are associated with distinct behavioural and psychophysiological correlates. Shyness has been linked to a variety of adverse mental health outcomes, and individuals who are high on both shyness and sociability (conflicted subtype) may be particularly at risk. The current study first aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (RCBSS; Cheek, 1983) before examining the moderating influence of sociability on shyness in relation to psychological and psychosomatic functioning. The internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and convergent/discriminant validity of the RCBSS was assessed using a sample of 152 university students, a subset of whom were tested 6 months later. Results provided support for the strong internal consistency and short- and long-term stability of the measure, as well as its convergent, divergent, and predictive validity.</p> <p>A significant shy X social interaction was found for the Bodily Preoccupations (BP) subscale of the Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS; Kellner, 1986, 1987). In particular, BP scores were significantly higher for the high shy-high social group than the low shy-high social group. This finding suggests that the conflicted subtype can be distinguished not only on behavioural and psychophysiological dimensions but also on the psychosomatic level. This result extends prior research and lends further evidence towards the notion that the treatment of shyness as a multidimensional construct, rather than a unitary construct, accounts for additional variance in psychosomatic outcomes in different types of shy and socially withdrawn individuals. Accordingly, this knowledge may better inform treatment in some cases of extreme shyness in which people are socially withdrawn and inhibited for different reasons.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Shyness is highly related to internalizing problems. However, not all shy children develop serious internalizing problems (IP). The aim of the current study was to identify the endogenous factors that might contribute to the resilience process from a self-regulation perspective. Participants included 73 children (33 boys; 40girls) who visited the lab at 6 and 9 years of age. Shyness, attentional control (AC), inhibitory control (IC), frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry were measured at both 6 and 9 years using age appropriate questionnaires and tasks. Results indicated that age 6 shyness did not directly predict age 9 IP; instead it indirectly predicted IP through age 9 shyness. Neither AC, IC, frontal EEG asymmetry, nor the stability of frontal EEG asymmetry moderated the association between age 6 shyness and age 9 IP. However, there was a positive concurrent association between shyness and IP at 9 years. In addition, AC and IC moderated the shyness-IP association at age 9. Shyness was significantly associated with IP only when children had low AC or IC, but not when children had high AC or IC. / Master of Science / Shyness is highly related to internalizing problems. However, not all shy children develop serious internalizing problems (IP). The aim of the current study was to identify the within-individual factors that might protect children away from having IP from a self-regulation perspective. Participants included 73 children (33 boys; 40girls) who visited the lab at 6 and 9 years of age. Shyness, attentional control (AC), inhibitory control (IC), frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry were measured at both 6 and 9 years using age appropriate questionnaires and tasks. Results indicated that children who are shy at 6 years old may not have IP at 9 years old. Instead children who are shy at 6 years old tend to be shy at 9 years old. And those who are shy at 9 years old are more likely to have IP at the same period of time. Neither AC, IC, frontal EEG asymmetry, nor the stability of frontal EEG asymmetry affect the direction or degree of the association between age 6 shyness and age 9 IP. In addition, AC and IC affect the concurrent shyness-IP association at age 9. Shyness was significantly associated with IP only when children had low AC or IC, but not when children had high AC or IC.

This essay is a scientific essay that centers around a story based on a self-experienced dilemma about a shy and silent child who does not communicate with the pedagogues at the preschool nor the majority of the other children. The child chooses to only communicate through her best friend and is then able to use both body- and verbal language, and it is only through this friend that others learn what the child wants.   The purpose of the essay is to examine how preschools satisfy the needs of silent and shy children, by studying my own actions in the described story. The questions at issue which are studied in this essay include how I as a future preschool teacher can support the silent and withdrawn children. Which tools and strategies pedagogues can use to uplift them. How I as a pedagogue can include these children and make them participate in the preschool’s activities. As well as how pedagogues relate to the need of interaction among silent children. These questions are answered through the writing of the essay where my practical knowledge, which constitutes of 17 years of working as a caretaker of children, and theoretical perspectives such as the theory of connection and a sociocultural perspective are applied. An interview with a certified speech therapist has also been conducted. The conclusions that can be made are that there are several possible tools and strategies that can be used to include and facilitate for the silent and shy children in the preschool, for example picture-support, smaller groups of children or that you as an pedagogue participate yourself and give the child roles within the plays that it is able to manage. Furthermore, an important lesson is that the theoretical perspectives constitute a crucial support for pedagogues in their approach towards shy children, that it is important to do a mapping of the shy children in terms of what causes the difficulties and when they arise, and also to always proceed from the individual child’s needs so that every child at the preschool gets the best possibilities for education. / Denna uppsats är en vetenskaplig essä som utgår ifrån en berättelse som utgörs av ett egenupplevt dilemma om ett blygt och tystlåtet barn som inte kommunicerar med pedagogerna på förskolan eller majoriteten av de andra barnen. Barnet väljer att endast att kommunicera via sin bästa kompis och kan då använda både kroppsspråk och verbalt språk, och det är endast genom kompisen som andra får veta vad barnet vill. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur förskolan tillgodoser tystlåtna och blyga barns behov, genom att studera mitt eget handlade i den beskrivna berättelsen. De frågeställningar som studeras i uppsatsen inkluderar hur jag som framtida förskolelärare kan stödja de tystlåtna och tillbakadragna barnen. Vilka verktyg och strategier pedagoger kan använda för att lyfta fram dem. Hur jag som pedagog kan inkludera dessa barn och få dem delaktiga i aktiviteterna på förskolan. Samt hur pedagoger förhåller sig till behovet av samspel hos tystlåtna barn. Dessa frågeställningar besvaras genom essäskrivande där min praktiska kunskap, som består av 17 års arbete som barnskötare, samt teoretiska perspektiv som anknytningsteorin och ett sociokulturellt perspektiv tillämpas. En intervju med en legitimerad logoped har också genomförts. Slutsatser som kan dras är att det finns flera möjliga verktyg och strategier som kan användas för att inkludera och underlätta för de tystlåtna och blyga barnen i förskolan, bland annat bild-stöd, mindre barngrupper eller att man som pedagog själv deltar och ger barnet roller i leken som den klarar av. En viktig lärdom är vidare att de teoretiska perspektiven utgör ett väsentligt stöd för pedagoger i sitt bemötande av blyga barn, att det är viktigt att göra en kartläggning av de blyga barnen kring vad som orsakar svårigheterna och när de uppstår, samt att alltid utgå från det enskilda barnets behov så att alla barn på förskolan får de bästa förutsättningarna för lärande.

The purpose of this study is to make visible whether, and in these cases how, the children who do not take up so much space gain speaking space and influence in preschool and kindergarten. The goal is to answer the questions about what thoughts preschool teachers have about influence, the children I call the quiet children and what strategies preschool teachers have for including these children. The qualitative survey was conducted with the help of semi-structured interviews where six preschool teachers were interviewed to make visible how they work. The interviews were transcribed, and the results were categorized according to the research questions. The results have been analyzed and interpreted with the help of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and with a phenomenographic approach, and in the discussion, I have commented on previous research. It appears that the preschool teachers have a greater awareness of including the quiet children than I before the survey had feared in my hypotheses. Preschool teachers do see the problems that exist, and with different strategies they do what they can to see, hear and support these children. Something that also emerges is the strengths that preschool teachers see in the quiet children. Further research could be done by visiting the teaching activities to make observations of what it looks like in reality. / Denna undersökning har som syfte att synliggöra om, och i sådana fall hur, de barn som inte tar så mycket plats får talutrymme och inflytande i förskolan. Målet är att besvara frågorna om vad förskollärarna har för tankar kring inflytande, de barn jag kallar de tysta barnen samt vad förskollärarna har för strategier för att inkludera dessa barn. Den kvalitativa undersökningen har genomförts med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer där sex förskollärare har intervjuats för att synliggöra hur de arbetar. Intervjuerna transkriberades och resultatet kategoriserades utefter frågeställningen. Resultaten har analyserats och tolkats med hjälp av Vygotskys sociokulturella teori samt med fenomenografisk ansats, och i diskussionen har jag jämfört med tidigare forskning.Det framkommer att förskollärarna har en större medvetenhet kring att inkludera de tysta barnen än jag innan undersökningen hade befarat i min hypotes. Förskollärarna ser problematiken som finns, och med olika strategier gör de vad de kan för att se, höra och stötta dessa barn. Något som också framkommer är vilka styrkor som förskollärarna ser hos de tysta barnen. Vidare forskning skulle kunna göras genom att besöka verksamheterna för att göra observationer av hur det ser ut i realiteten.