ABSTRACT
We are most familiar with shyness in adults and especially in adolescents. Occurring mainly with people who are strangers or casual acquaintances, shyness may be defined as discomfort, inhibition, or awkwardness in the presence of others. Differing from speech anxiety, which involves the same kind of reaction but only when one is in front of an audience, shyness occurs only in dyadic or other social interactions in which there is a back-and-forth responsivity.
