Moving Away or Fitting In?: Understanding Shyness in Chinese Children

Abstract

This paper reports on three studies of shy behavior in Mainland Chinese children. In Study 1 (N = 107, M age = 10.05), a Chinese Shyness Scale (CSS) was developed based on Chinese teachers' open-ended descriptions of children's shy behavior. In Study 2 (N = 388, M age = 10.80) and Study 3 (N = 198, M age = 10.20), the construct validity of the two forms of shyness that emerged in Study 1 (i.e., anxious shyness and regulated shyness) were examined in relation to children's social preference, temperament, and psychosocial adjustment. A distinct pattern of results was found for anxious shyness and regulated shyness. The findings highlight the role of culture in shaping expression of children's shy behavior.