Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behavior, McMaster University.
Emotion. 2019 Feb;19(1):160-170. doi: 10.1037/emo0000426. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
Most research treats shyness as a homogenous phenomenon when examining its correlates and consequences, which limits the identification of specific groups of shy children who may be at differential risk for maladaptive social outcomes. Here, we examined whether different types of shyness were uniquely associated with social adjustment and physiological stress reactivity in school-age children (n = 92; Mage = 7.47 years; SD = 2.23 years). During the completion of a videotaped self-presentation task, behavioral measures of positivity and avoidance were coded in order to derive shyness groups (i.e., positive shy: high positivity and high avoidance; negative shy: low positivity and high avoidance; and non-shy: low avoidance). Further, during the self-presentation task, direct observation of activity level was coded, and salivary cortisol reactivity to the social stressor was measured. We also collected parent- and teacher report of children's social anxiety, and parent report of children's sociability. We found that negative shy children were more socially anxious according to both parent- and teacher report, less sociable, and they also displayed reduced activity levels during the speech than the positive shy and non-shy children. Positive shy and non-shy children were indistinguishable across all measures of social behavior. Shyness group had no influence on children's cortisol stress reactivity. Our findings provide support for heterogeneity in the expression of shyness, and highlight that not all shy children experience poor social adjustment. Expression of positivity during socially threatening situations may have an adaptive social function in shy school-age children, as it is associated with reduced social anxiety and increased sociability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
大多数研究在考察害羞的相关性和后果时，将其视为同质现象，这限制了识别可能处于不同适应不良社会结果风险的特定害羞儿童群体。在这里，我们研究了不同类型的害羞是否与学龄儿童（n = 92；Mage = 7.47 岁；SD = 2.23 岁）的社会适应和生理应激反应有关。在完成录像自我表现任务期间，对积极性和回避性进行行为测量，以得出害羞群体（即，积极害羞：高积极性和高回避；消极害羞：低积极性和高回避；不害羞：低回避）。此外，在自我表现任务期间，对活动水平进行直接观察，并测量唾液皮质醇对社会应激源的反应性。我们还收集了父母和老师对孩子社交焦虑的报告，以及父母对孩子社交能力的报告。我们发现，根据父母和老师的报告，消极害羞的孩子更具社交焦虑，不太合群，并且在演讲时的活动水平也低于积极害羞和不害羞的孩子。积极害羞和不害羞的孩子在所有社交行为测量上均无差异。害羞群体对孩子的皮质醇应激反应没有影响。我们的研究结果为害羞的表达存在异质性提供了支持，并强调并非所有害羞的孩子都经历不良的社会适应。在社交威胁情况下表现出积极性可能具有适应社会的功能，因为它与社交焦虑减少和社交能力增加有关。（PsycINFO 数据库记录（c）2019 APA，保留所有权利）。
