ABSTRACT
Shyness is a sense of apprehension or lack of confidence felt about social interaction with others. Shy individuals are apprehensive about and tend to avoid uncomfortable or unfamiliar situations. Shyness suggests avoidance tendencies, whereas sociability suggests approach tendencies. Cheek and Buss (1981) defined shyness as “one’s reaction to being with strangers or casual acquaintances: tension, concern, feelings of awkwardness and discomfort, and both gaze aversion and inhibition of normally expected social behavior” (p. 330); they defined sociability as “a tendency to affiliate with others and to prefer being with others to remaining alone” (p. 330). Zimbardo (1977) observed that shyness is a problem evidenced by low self-esteem, anxiety, inadequate social skills, and self-consciousness. According to Kelly, Duran, and Stewart (1990), “the shy person may experience fear, self-consciousness, and worry, and may behave awkwardly in social situations” (p. 209).
