Shyness and sociability.

Abstract

Two studies investigated the relationship between shyness (tension and inhibition when with others) and sociability (preference for being with others rather than being alone). A factor analysis of shyness and sociability items revealed two distinct factors indicating that shyness and sociability are distinct personality dispositions. Self-reported shyness showed only a moderate negative correlation with self-reported sociability (r = -.30). Furthermore, the measures of shyness and sociability had different patterns of correlations with other personality scales. On the basis of these findings, we concluded that shyness is not just low sociability. Next, four groups of subjects were selected: shy-sociable, shy-unsociable, unshysociable, and unshy-unsociable. Pairs of these subjects, matched for both traits, interacted for 5 minutes. Shy-sociable subjects tended to talk less, avert their gaze more, and engage in more self-manipulation than did the other three groups. In studying social behavior, we evidently need to know not only whether subjects are shy but also whether they are sociable.This paper is based on the first author's master's thesis; the second author was the major adviser for the thesis. We thank Stephen Briggs, Robert Helmreich, John Johnson, and Bill Underwood for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the paper.David Drum and Richard Klein of the Counseling Center of the University of Texas generously provided the videotape equipment and the rooms used in Study 2. We would like to thank Walter Halpenny, Judy Henning, Tim Herfel, and Inez Yarburough for their assistance in conducting the experiment.

Shyness and face scanning in children

“…In the present study, the alpha coefficients were .77 and .67 for the shyness and sociability subscales, respectively. We examined sociability to determine specificity, given that sociability is conceptually and empirically orthogonal to shyness but related to social behavior (Cheek & Buss, 1981;Schmidt, 1999). Items were answered on a 5-point scale, with 1 representing ''not at all like my child'' and 5 for ''a lot like my child.''…”

“…Of these toddlers, some will maintain their avoidant tendencies and develop into temperamentally shy children and adults (Biedel & Turner, 1998;Schmidt & Schulkin, 1999). Interestingly, although the avoidance of eye contact is an observable behavior presumed to maintain non-clinical shyness (Cheek & Buss, 1981;Garcia, Stinson, Ickes, Bissonnette, & Briggs, 1991;Pilkonis, 1977), no studies have used eye tracking to reliably capture precise face scanning patterns in relation to shyness among non-clinical samples and apparently none with children.…”

Mobile voice communication and loneliness: Cell phone use and the social skills deficit hypothesis

“…As indicators of social skills, the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (Leary, 1983) and the Shyness Scale (Cheek and Buss, 1981) were used. The former included 15 items such as "I often feel nervous even in casual get-togethers," while the latter included nine items such as "I am socially somewhat awkward."…”

Videotape reconstruction of emotions and cognitions related to shyness.

“…sitional shyness from introversion (cf. Cheek & Buss, 1981;Jones, Briggs, & Smith, 1986;Leary, 1986a). Fourth, situational shyness often involves not only anxiety but also positive affect such as interest (cf.…”