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To determine whether shyness-eliciting situations identified by college students would generalize to a mote diverse sample, data were gathered from 187 shy females (14 to 58 yr. of age) who responded to a popular magazine's article about shyness. Coding of responses about shyness situations gave a set of categories highly congruent with previous research involving students. Engaging in conversations and encountering strangers or unfamiliar surroundings seem particularly problematic situations for shy people.

Apprehension about communication is the fear of avoidance of verbal interaction which results in shyness, timidity, or reticence. Little is known about the effects of culture on apprehension about communication, especially in children. This study compared amounts of apprehension about communication among 5- to 11-yr.-old boys and girls in the USA (N = 369) and Sweden (N = 406). Significant differences in apprehension about communication as measured by the Personal Report of Communication Fear were found for American and Swedish subjects; the Swedish students over-all showed more apprehension.