Warren H. Jones

Shyness: Conceptualization and measurement.

The concept of shyness and its measurement were investigated in a series of studies (total N = 1,687). Data collection and analysis proceeded in three phases: the revision and continued development of a measure of shyness, the Social Reticence Scale; a psychometric comparison among five measures of shyness; and an examination of the factor structure underlying the construct of shyness. Phase 1 assessed the reliability and validity of the Social Reticence Scale, including ratings of videotaped monologues and ratings by significant others. Phase 2 compared the five shyness measures with one another on indices of internal consistency and with other relevant measures of emotionality, personality, relationships, and behavior. Items from the five 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. Overall, the results from these studies 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 three interpretable factors underlie responses to the shyness scales but provided little support for drawing conceptual distinctions among types of shyness. Discussion focuses on the implications of these data for the measurement and conceptualization of shyness.

Loneliness and social skill deficits.

The relationship between social skill deficits and the psychological state of loneliness was examined in two studies. Study 1 compared conversational behaviors of high-lonely and low-lonely college students during brief heterosexual interactions. Results indicated that the two loneliness groups differed significantly in their use of a specific class of conversational behaviors termed partner attention, with high-lonely as compared to low-lonely subjects giving less attention to their partners. Study 2 examined the casual relationship between social skill and loneliness by directly manipulating the use of partner attention in a group of high-lonely males. For that group, increased use of partner attention during dyadic interactions resulted in significantly greater change in loneliness and related variables relative to interaction only and no-contact control groups. The utility of conceptualizing loneliness as a social skills problem is discussed.

Loneliness, Self-Concept, and Adjustment

Summary Two studies (N = 194) investigated the relationship between loneliness and self-concept and adjustment. College students completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and an inventory which assessed the degree of other-focused attention. Results indicated that loneliness was related to more negative self-concepts, possibly less adjustment, and more self-focus. Discussion centers on the relationship between loneliness and self-concept; the possible role of attention in maintaining the negative self-image of lonely people is suggested.

Loneliness and Adjustment to Old Age.

Among two samples of older adults, loneliness (measured by the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale) was related to poor psychological adjustment, generally, and to dissatisfaction with family and social relationships. It was also related, however, to fears, expectations, and personality characteristics likely to inhibit the restoration of personal support networks after a stressful life event such as widowhood. Finally, loneliness was associated with maladaptive behavior patterns such as failure to: a) plan for old age, b) engage in rehearsal for widowhood, c) engage in social comparison, or d) learn about available community health and social services.

Shyness, Social Behavior, and Relationships

Beyond the distress that the shy person experiences in social situations, one is tempted to ask what difference shyness makes. It is one thing to assert that shyness is related to self-reports of anxiety, self-esteem, fearfulness, etc., and quite another to demonstrate its relevance to overt social behavior or its impact on the development or continuation of important and ongoing personal relationships. Shyness is often conceptualized as a dimension of personality, and in that regard it is important to note that the concept of personality is used in two distinct ways in psychology: personality refers to (a) internal psychological structures and dynamics (e.g., individual differences, traits, expectations, beliefs, etc.); and (b) the reputation an individual acquires within the context of a social group. Some personality psychologists have recently emphasized not only the need to examine the linkages between these two conceptualizations, but also that the primary purpose of investigating personality in the former sense is to explain personality in the latter sense (e.g., Hogan, 1983). Similarly, the focus of this chapter is to examine research relating shyness (conceived as a relatively stable dimension of personality) to social behavior, relationships, and the reactions of others.

Loneliness and Social Anxiety

A great deal of recent research in psychology has focused on the role of close personal relationships in behavior and experience. For example, topics such as social support, friendship, jealousy, marriage, and divorce have received increasing attention in recent years. Such research has extended our appreciation of the centrality of personal relationships while also verifying the relevance of close relationships to a wide variety of psychological and other processes, including, for example, physical and mental health.

Loneliness and Interpersonal Judgments

This study examines ratings of self and partners by high and low tested lonely college students following brief interactions with opposite sex strangers. Results replicate and extend previous findings, indicating more negative evaluations for high as compared to low lonely subjects in self ratings, ratings expected from partners; and for men only, ratings of partners. High lonely men were rated more negatively than low lonely men but the corresponding effect for women was not observed. The data also indicate that high lonely participants were perceived by their partners as more likely to rate themselves negatively. The findings are discussed in relation to the probable consequences of perceived social skill inadequacies for the experience of loneliness.

Components of loneliness during adolescence

Predictors of adolescent loneliness were investigated in two samples of high school students (n=92)and college undergraduates (n=192).Results were similar across samples. Among the high school sample loneliness was significantly predicted by a combination of alienation, a lack of social facility and acceptance, inferiority feelings, negative school attitudes, and a lack of social integration. Among college students loneliness was negatively related to social facility, regularity, approval, and involvement and positively related to alienation, parental disinterest, negative school attitudes, and inferiority feelings.

The Self-Other Discrepancy in Social Shyness

Publisher Summary This chapter analyzes the self–other discrepancy in social shyness. Shyness is a form of social anxiety that has been characterized as anxious preoccupation with the self in the presence of others. Some researchers argue that a necessary precondition for experiencing the state emotion of shyness is public self-consciousness—that is, awareness of the self as a social object. Although the importance of self-processes in the experience of shyness has been generally recognized, the role of the self has not been fully explicated in this regard. This chapter reviews previous researches on shyness as well as some recent data with particular emphasis on the discrepancy between self and other perception of social behavior. An overview of the concept of shyness is presented and its emergence in the psychological literature as a descriptive and theoretical construct is discussed. The research is analyzed which focuses on shyness including the rate of its occurrence, internal, and behavioral correlates. The data linking dispositional shyness to limited and problematic social networks is also reviewed in the chapter.

Troubled Relationships in Later Life: Implications for Support

The personal relationships on which social support depends can become strained, problematic and antagonistic in later life. This paper explores how older support recipients themselves influence that social process, for better or worse. New data are presented regarding the nature and extent of interpersonal betrayal in the social networks of older adults that could destabilize family relationships and their social support functions. Respondents reported having betrayed 14 percent, and having been betrayed by 19 percent of the persons in their immediate support networks. In many cases, the event had occurred much earlier in their life, but had retained its symbolic impact across a lifetime.