Individual differences in young adultsʹ shyness and sociability: Personality and health correlates

Differences in personality and health-related ailments among 40 young women who were selected for high (HI) and low (LO) self-ratings of shyness and sociability were examined. Self- and independent-ratings of personality were also measured following a dyadic interaction with an unfamiliar woman. The analyses revealed a significant Shyness × Sociability interaction for measures of self-reported talkativeness and extraversion. HISHY/LOSOCIABLE subjects rated themselves significantly lower on amount of talking during the dyadic interaction and lower on extraversion compared with subjects in the other three groups. Extreme shyness was also a consistent predictor of both emotional and psychosomatic problems. HISHY subjects reported significantly more neuroticism, loneliness, depression, social anxiety, fearfulness, retrospective inhibition, and had lower self-esteem than their LOSHY counterparts. In addition, a significantly higher portion of HISHY subjects reported problems with allergies and gastrointestinal functioning compared with LOSHY subjects. These results provide further support for the independence of shyness and sociability, and replicate and extend earlier findings on the role of extreme shyness in emotional and psychosomatic problems.