ABSTRACT
Talk, or rather the lack thereof, is a prominent component across a variety of concepts used to describe those who appear awkward, uncomfortable, and inhibited in social interaction. These include shyness, social withdrawal, social inhibition, social anxiety, reticence, and communication apprehension. Although there are the conceptual distinctions between these terms (see Asendorpf, 1990a; Clevenger, 1984; Leary, 1983), both the quality and quantity of talk emerge as marker variables that cut across them. It is the intent of this chapter to review and integrate a variety of studies in the literature that comments on the communicative behavior of these groups of children. When referring to the various studies, I use the terms used by the authors of the studies to denote their subject groups. However, when generalizing across the studies, the word “shy” is used. While “shy” and “shyness” are probably what Meehl (1978) would call “fuzzy verbalisms” lacking scientific precision, in English they nonetheless carry meaning as used in everyday language similar to the various terms of the research literature reviewed (Zimbardo, 1977).
