Personality effects on children's speech in everyday life: Sociability-mediated exposure and shyness-mediated reactivity to social situations.

Speech and heart rate were continuously monitored during 7 days from morning to evening in 41 Grade 2 children selected for high or low parental judgments of sociability and shyness. Ss attended school in the mornings and were free in the afternoons; the child's social situations in the afternoon were reconstructed with the child and a caretaker. During the afternoons sociable Ss spent more time in conversations than unsociable Ss, but the groups did not differ in their verbal participation within conversations. Shy Ss spent as much time in conversations and spoke as much in familiar situations as nonshy children but spoke less in moderately unfamiliar situations. Neither sociability nor shyness had an effect on heart rate reactivity. The results show that sociability affects the exposure, and shyness the reactivity, to situations and that these traits are clearly distinct despite some similarity in lay judgments of personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shyness and sociability reexamined: A multicomponent analysis.

This research tested questions related to J. M. Cheek and A. H. Buss's (see record 1982-07755-001) prediction that sociability moderates the relation between shyness and dysfunction interaction. In Study 1, a confirmatory factor analysis of Shyness and Sociability scales revealed that these factors are more inversely related than previously recognized. In Study 2, the relations of shyness, sociability, and gender and their interactions with dysfunctional behavior were tested during a conversation with an opposite-sex partner. Using analyses that tested the unique influence of each variable, the results failed to confirm that shy-sociable Ss evidenced more dysfunctional behavior than shy low-sociable Ss. Instead, shyness was the most consistent predictor of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive indexes of anxiety, and shy men were more dysfunctional on some criteria. In particular, shyness differences in perceived visibility of one's nervous behaviors are discussed relative to the role of cognition in shyness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Origins of individual differences in infant shyness.

Explored the origins of individual differences in infant shyness by studying its relationship to parental shyness, sociability (the tendency to prefer being with others rather than alone), and introversion–extraversion (a factor that combines shyness, low sociability, and lack of impulsivity). The parents of 152 adopted and 120 nonadoptive infants (aged 12–24 mo) rated their child's shyness on a 5-item scale and completed the 16PF and measures of emotionality, activity, sociability, and impulsivity. In addition, information on biological mothers was obtained. The Family Environment Scale and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment were used to assess each infant's environment. Results show that infant shyness was positively related to shyness and negatively related to sociability and extraversion in nonadoptive mothers who shared both heredity and family environment with their infants. Genetic influence on infant shyness at 24 mo of age was shown by significant correlations of shyness and low sociability of biological mothers with shyness of their adopted-away infants. Infant shyness was also related to low sociability of adoptive mothers. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characteristics predicting social functioning and treatment response in clients impaired by extreme shyness: Age of onset and the public/private shyness distinction.

52 adults that were functionally impaired by extreme shyness participated in an interview that assessed factors surrounding shyness onset, social functioning, strategies for coping with shyness, and behavioral skill in social interactions. 34 Ss then participated in an 8-wk behavioral treatment program that provided training in social skills. Ss reporting early onset also described their parents as shy, while Ss reporting later onset had a childhood history of emotional or physical abuse. Ss with observable behavioral deficits were more likely to benefit from the behavioral treatment program than were shy Ss with few overt symptoms. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social determinants of alcohol consumption: The effects of social interaction and model status on the self-administration of alcohol.

Conducted 2 studies with 106 male undergraduates to assess variables related to the social determinants of alcohol consumption. In Study 1, 51 moderate- and heavy-drinking Ss were paired with confederates who behaved in a sociable or unsociable manner while modeling either light or heavy consumption during a 30-min drinking period in a simulated cocktail lounge. It was found that modeling occurred in the sociable conditions but not in the unsociable conditions, where Ss tended to drink heavily. In Study 2, 54 Ss were exposed to 1 of 3 social status conditions crossed with light vs heavy consumption in a 40-min drinking period in the same setting. Results indicate a modeling effect in all social status conditions. Findings support the existence of a modeling effect that can be disrupted by a lack of rapport between drinking partners. Implications for this etiology of problem drinking are considered that are based on the notion that increased alcohol consumption may serve as a strategy for coping with aversive social interactions. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shyness: Conceptualization and measurement.

Examined the concept of shyness and its measurement by collecting and analyzing data in 3 phases: (1) the revision and continued development of a measure of shyness, the Social Reticence Scale (SRS), which was designed by W. H. Jones and D. Russell (see record 1983-09411-001); (2) a psychometric comparison among 5 measures of shyness; and (3) an examination of the factor structure underlying the construct of shyness. Phase 1 assessed the reliability (n?=?252 college students) and validity (n?=?164 college students) of the SRS, including ratings of videotaped monologs and ratings by significant others. Phase 2, using 1,213 Ss (aged 15–25 yrs), compared the 5 shyness measures with one another on indices of internal consistency and with other relevant measures of emotionality, personality, relationships, and behavior. Items from the 5 shyness measures were combined in a factor analysis in Phase 3, and the resulting factors were correlated with the self-report and rating data obtained in Phase 2. Results confirmed that the shyness measures were valid, reliable, and empirically distinct from measures of related constructs. Behavioral validity was observed for several of the shyness scales. Additional analyses suggested that 3 interpretable factors underlie responses to the shyness scale—Social Avoidance and Distress, Social Facility, and Fear of High Status Others—but provided little support for drawing conceptual distinctions among types of shyness. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the self-serving function of social anxiety: Shyness as a self-handicapping strategy.

Tested the hypothesis that socially anxious or shy individuals use their anxiety symptoms as a strategy to control attributions made about their performances in social-evaluative settings (i.e., self-handicapping strategies). 70 female and 72 male undergraduates, classified as low and high socially anxious on the basis of the Social Anxiety and Distress Scale, were given role-play tasks in a 3?×?2?×?2 design. It was predicted that trait-socially anxious or shy Ss would report more symptoms of social anxiety in an evaluative setting in which anxiety or shyness could serve as an excuse for poor performance than would Ss in (a) an evaluative setting in which shyness was precluded as an excuse or (b) a nonevaluative setting. It was also predicted that this self-protective pattern of symptom reporting would not occur for Ss who were not trait-socially anxious because these Ss would not commonly use such symptoms as a self-handicapping strategy. Results support these predictions for males but not for females. Sex differences in the strategic use of shyness are discussed in relation to other research on sex differences in the etiology and correlates of social anxiety. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aggregation, moderator variables, and the validity of personality tests: A peer-rating study.

A study with 85 college fraternity members investigated the effects of aggregation and moderator variables on the validity of personality tests. Aggregation over items and raters yielded an average self–peer correlation of .44 for ratings on 4 personality dimensions. The combination of social communication skill and self-knowledge produced significant moderating effects. Ss high on the Acting subscale and high on a composite of Private Self-Consciousness and Personal Identity scales had stronger agreement between self- and peer ratings than did those low on these measures. Results for 4 specific moderator variables (the importance, variability, and observability of each rating dimension) were in the predicted direction, although weaker than expected. It is concluded that aggregation and the use of moderator variables are both important techniques for obtaining convincing validity coefficients in personality research. (75 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Getting along and getting ahead: Empirical support for a theory of protective and acquisitive self-presentation.

Study 1, with 386 undergraduates, demonstrated that the Concern for Appropriateness Scale and the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS—R) developed by the 1st 2 authors (see record 1984-27678-001) were orthogonal and that they were predictably related to measures of self-esteem, social anxiety, shyness, and sociability. Study 2, with an additional 249 Ss, showed that Ss high in concern for appropriateness tended to describe their own drug use as due to inducement by others, whereas Ss who scored high on the SMS—R tended to describe their drug use as self-initiated. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament and helping behavior in preschool children.

This study investigated the idea that children's temperaments, in interaction with situational factors, are related to their helping behavior. Twenty-four preschool children were each presented with four opportunities for helping a female adult during a play session in the laboratory, while their mothers rated the children's helpfulness at home. Multiple measures of sociability as well as a broad temperament measure called social adaptability were gathered from mothers and preschool teachers, some several months prior to the laboratory session and some concurrent with it. The primary hypothesis that sociable children would appear to be more helpful than less sociable children was supported for helpfulness in the laboratory, but not at home. It was suggested that this was because in the laboratory the person needing help was unfamiliar, which may have differentially affected the sociable and unsociable children. Preliminary evidence suggested an association between discipline techniques reportedly used by mothers and their children's temperaments. Possible mechanisms by which temperament could mediate prosocial behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social self in bulimia nervosa: Public self-consciousness, social anxiety, and perceived fraudulence.

Bulimic women appear preoccupied not only with their physical presentation but also with their "social self," how others perceive them in general. This study examined the relationship of the social self to body esteem and to bulimia nervosa. In Phase 1, in which 222 nonclinical women (aged 16–50 yrs) participated, the social-self measures of Perceived Fraudulence, Social Anxiety, and Public Self-Consciousness were negatively associated with body esteem. In Phase 2, 34 bulimic women were compared with 33 Ss scoring high on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and 67 matched controls. Bulimic Ss, high-EAT Ss, and control Ss all differed on Perceived Fraudulence, and bulimic Ss and high-EAT Ss scored higher than control Ss on Public Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety. The findings strongly support the hypothesized link of social self concerns to body dissatisfaction and bulimia nervosa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, education, and the internal consistency of personality scales.

Investigated whether the internal consistencies of personality scales increase with age and education and, if so, what causes these increases. Between 96 and 106 respondents in each of the age groups 13–24 yrs, 15–26 yrs, 17–28 yrs, and 19–20 yrs and 198 adults (aged 21–25 yrs) with varying amounts of formal education completed the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, the California F-Scale, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, a dogmatism scale, the Extraversion subscale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, a self-monitoring scale, and a private self-conscious scale. Results show that age and education were both linearly related to the internal consistency with which Ss responded to all 8 personality scales. The relations were stronger for education than for age, the correlations between individuals' consistency scores across scales revealed a strong consistency response set. Stepwise regression showed that this internal consistency was related to age, education, the failure to understand items, and private self-consciousness. These last 2 contributions suggest that lower consistencies are partly a measurement problem and partly due to real lower personality consistencies on trait constructs. It is suggested that, because most personality research has used nonadults, the lower internal consistency of the younger Ss has contributed to the limited predictive power of personality scales. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life course sequelae of childhood shyness in Sweden: Comparison with the United States.

Using data from a Swedish longitudinal project, we predicted timing of marriage and parenthood and age-35 career success from mother-rated shyness in 8–10 year old children. Results are compared with those previously found for Americans. Like shy American boys, shy Swedish boys married and became fathers later than nonshy boys. Unlike American boys, Swedish boys' adult careers were not affected by shyness. Like shy American girls, shy Swedish girls later married and became mothers at the same time as their peers. However, they also attained lower levels of education than nonshy girls. Results suggest that the life consequences of shyness depend upon its culturally defined gender and situation appropriateness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affect and age: Cross-sectional comparisons of structure and prevalence.

The self-reports of 207 young-adult (aged 18–30 yrs), 231 middle-aged (aged 31–59 yrs), and 828 older-adult (aged 60 yrs and over) Ss were used to study the structure of affect. Affects were represented by terms included in various circumplex arrays of emotions as presented by previous investigators. A set of 46 affects was subjected to exploratory analysis, and a final set of 38 affects was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness of fit of each group's factor loadings to the hypothesized factors of positive affect, depression, anxiety–guilt, contentment, hostility, and shyness was not up to the desired .90 level, and some significant differences in factor structure were observed for each age-group comparison. There were few age differences in levels of positive affect. Depression was most frequent among younger Ss and least frequent among older Ss. Younger Ss were most often anxious and shy. Older Ss were most often content and least often hostile. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shy-bold continuum in pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus): An ecological study of a psychological trait.

The shy–bold continuum is recognized as a fundamental axis of behavioral variation in humans, but 3 major issues have not been addressed. First, the taxonomic distribution of shyness and boldness is unknown. Second, the ecological consequences of shyness and boldness have not been studied in natural populations. Third, no one has tried to predict and test patterns of shyness and boldness that might result from natural selection. The authors show that a shy–bold continuum, which influences diet, predator risk, and parasite fauna, exists in juvenile pumpkinseed sunfish. Individual differences are relatively stable in nature but seem to disappear when the fish are held in social and ecological isolation in the laboratory. Thus, phenotypic stability may not reflect innate tendencies to be shy or bold but rather environmental conditions that maintain differences between phenotypically plastic individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Videotape reconstruction of emotions and cognitions related to shyness.

This study tested predictions of the self-presentational approach to situational and dispositional shyness within a broader perspective. Forty subjects who were high in self-rated dispositional shyness and 30 subjects who were low in self-rated dispositional shyness watched videotapes of their interaction with a confederate of the experimenter in various situations, including apprehension of evaluation and positive feedback provided by the confederate. The subjects' free verbal responses to particular events during these situations were content-analyzed. Compared with the group lower in shyness, the shy subjects (a) recalled more fear of social evaluation (including fear of positive evaluation) but did not more often report other kinds of fear, (b) had more negatively biased thoughts about the impression made on their partner but not more impression-related thoughts in general, and (c) showed more negatively biased reactions to the positive feedback of their partner. These results support the self-presentational view that fear of being socially evaluated is pivotal to dispositional shyness. However, some unexpected findings suggest that social evaluative situations also arouse fears of having to evaluate others; this would limit self-presentational explanations of situational shyness in these situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double dissociation between implicit and explicit personality self-concept: The case of shy behavior.

Using the trait of shyness as an example, the authors showed that (a) it is possible to reliably assess individual differences in the implicitly measured self-concept of personality that (b) are not accessible through traditional explicit self-ratings and (c) increase significantly the prediction of spontaneous behavior in realistic social situations. A total of 139 participants were observed in a shyness-inducing laboratory situation, and they completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and explicit self-ratings of shyness. The IAT correlated moderately with the explicit self-ratings and uniquely predicted spontaneous (but not controlled) shy behavior, whereas the explicit ratings uniquely predicted controlled (but not spontaneous) shy behavior (double dissociation). The distinction between spontaneous and controlled behavior was validated in a 2nd study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding child-based effects on parenting: Temperament as a moderator of genetic and environmental contributions to parenting.

The degree to which child temperament moderates genetic and environmental contributions to parenting was examined. Participants were drawn from the Nonshared Environment and Adolescent Development project and included 720 sibling pairs, ages 13.5 + 2.0 years (Sibling 1) to 12.1 + 1.3 years (Sibling 2). The sample consisted of 6 sibling types: 93 monozygotic twin pairs, 99 dizygotic twin pairs, and 95 full sibling pairs from never-divorced families and 182 full-sibling, 109 half-sibling, and 130 unrelated-sibling pairs residing in stepfamilies. Composite child temperament ratings (negative emotionality, activity, shyness, and sociability) were derived from mothers' and fathers' reports. Composite parenting ratings (negativity, warmth) for mothers and fathers were generated from children's and parents' reports. Analyses indicated that at higher levels of negative emotionality and sociability, child-based genetic contributions to mothers' and fathers' negativity increased, whereas the contributions of environmental factors declined. The opposite pattern was observed for child shyness. These same characteristics had less impact on parental warmth. For fathers only, nonshared environmental contributions to fathers' warmth increased in the presence of high child activity and sociability but declined when children were very shy. Overall these findings indicate that child-based effects on negative parenting are enhanced when children demonstrate potentially challenging characteristics but are weaker in the absence of such characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of intelligence in leaderless groups: The dynamic effects of shyness and acquaintance.

Perceptions of intelligence were investigated in 2 longitudinal studies of leaderless discussion groups (LDGs). In Study 1 (N?=?87), students completed trait-shyness questionnaires and met 7 times in groups of 4–5. After Meetings 2 and 7, participants rated all group members on state shyness and intelligence. Trait-shy participants were initially judged to be less intelligent on both self and peer ratings. At Time 2, however, trait-shy participants were no longer derogated by peers. Study 2 (N?=?103) replicated the same pattern of shy derogation while demonstrating no actual relation between IQ and trait shyness. Again, trait-shy derogation disappeared by Time 2, but state-shy derogation continued. The state shy were now the low-lQ participants, who had begun to talk less. Thus, the bias against quiet individuals, originally inappropriate, gradually became a valid cue for low intelligence. Results were traced to overlapping cues for intelligence and shyness in LDGs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)