Does Shyness Vary According to Attained Social Roles? Trends Across Age Groups in a Large British Sample
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Publication Date
2017-12Journal Title
Journal of Personality
ISSN
0022-3506
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Volume
85
Issue
6
Pages
830-840
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
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Van Zalk, N., Lamb, M., & Jason Rentfrow, P. (2017). Does Shyness Vary According to Attained Social Roles? Trends Across Age Groups in a Large British Sample. Journal of Personality, 85 (6), 830-840. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12291
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated (a) how a composite measure of shyness comprising introversion and neuroticism relates to other well-known constructs involving social fears, and (b) whether mean levels of shyness vary for men and women depending on the adoption of various social roles. METHOD: Study 1 used a sample of 211 UK participants aged 17–70 (64% female; Mage = 47.90). Study 2 used data from a large cross-sectional data set with UK participants aged 17–70 (Ntarget = 552,663; 64% female; Mage = 34.19 years). RESULTS: Study 1 showed that shyness measured as a composite of introversion and neuroticism was highly correlated with other constructs involving social fears. Study 2 indicated that, controlling for various sociodemographic variables, females appeared to have higher levels, whereas males appeared to have lower levels of shyness. Males and females who were in employment had the lowest shyness levels, whereas those working in unskilled jobs had the highest levels and people working in sales the lowest levels of shyness. Participants in relationships had lower levels of shyness than those not in relationships, but parenthood was not associated with shyness. CONCLUSIONS: Mean levels of shyness are likely to vary according to adopted social roles, gender, and age.
Keywords
shyness, mean-level variation, social roles, life span
Sponsorship
Preparation of this manuscript was supported by Grant 2011-0307 from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare to Nejra Van Zalk.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12291
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/270006
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