Italian validation of the Children's Shyness Questionnaire: Exploring associations between shyness and psychosocial functioning

BACKGROUND

In recent years, researchers have begun to explore the implications of shyness for the psychosocial wellbeing of children and adolescents, exploring its association with internalizing problems. Research in an Italian context is hindered by the lack of a validated self-report measure of shyness. We report two studies aimed to assess the psychometric properties of an Italian translation of the Children's Shyness Questionnaire (CSQ-it) and investigate its correlations with convergent and divergent constructs. The first study aimed to examine associations between CSQ-it and self-report measures of anxiety and somatic symptoms and attachment with parents and peers. The second study aimed to investigate its relations to internet addiction.

METHODS

The self-report measures were completed by 550 participants in the first study and 131 participants in the second study. Parents provided information on their child's problems. Psychometric properties were assessed by Cronbach's alpha in both studies and by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in Study 1. The relations between shyness and measures of internalizing problems and attachments were analyzed by correlational methods. In Study 2 a moderated mediation model tested the hypothesis that the relationship between shyness and internet addiction is mediated by somatic symptoms and that shyness moderates the relationship between somatic symptoms and internet addiction.

RESULTS

The reliability and validity of the Italian Version of the Children's Shyness Questionnaire were satisfactory. Results from confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the single-factor model of the questionnaire previously identified in North American and Chinese studies. There were significant correlations between shyness, anxious and somatic symptomatology, impaired psychosocial functioning and specific components of attachment relationships. In Study 2 the indirect effect of shyness on internet addiction through somatic symptoms was significant as well as significantly moderated for high shyness scores but not for low levels of shyness.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge this is the first study that explored the psychometric proprieties of the Children's Shyness Questionnaire in the Italian context. Findings demonstrated that this self-reported measure of shyness has sound psychometric properties and can be used as a sensitive and appropriate instrument for the assessment of shyness in children and adolescents.

Shyness and Students' Perceptions of Seminars

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of shyness on students' perceptions of seminars, particularly their estimates of the frequency of their participation, their reasons for remaining quiet in class and their satisfaction with their performance. A questionnaire constructed for this study was administered to a sample of students in one British university along with the Cheek-Buss shyness scale. Across the whole sample, students' knowledge, the content of seminars and the tutor's style of leading them were most frequently endorsed as important reasons for being quiet. Nevertheless reasons related to shyness were judged as very important by approximately 25% of the sample. Scores on the shyness scale were negatively correlated with estimates of participation and were significantly associated with greater emphasis on nervousness and embarrassment as reasons for quietness in class. Factor analysis of questionnaire responses identified three dimensions of perceptions of seminars: confidence in participation, inhibition and positive attitudes. Shy students differed from their peers on all three dimensions and inhibition was a prominent factor in their expressed dissatisfaction with their performance – they are not unwilling to participate but feel inhibited from doing so. The implications of the findings for encouraging participation in class are discussed.

Differentiating Shame from Embarrassment

Questions about the relation between shame and embarrassment are often posed in discussion of emotion but have rarely been examined at length. In this study I assemble and examine distinctions that have been proposed in the literature with the aim of identifying the criteria that have been used to differentiate shame and embarrassment. Relevant empirical studies are also reviewed. Despite the attention paid to the question of the difference between shame and embarrassment consensus on differentiating criteria has not been reached nor has there been consideration of what kind of question is being posed. Three positions that have been adopted are identified and critically evaluated.

Dispositional and situational learning goals and children's self-regulation

BACKGROUND

Little research has examined interactions between self-reported dispositional and experimentally manipulated situational group orientations in their effect on self-regulation.

AIMS

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of dispositional and situational learning goal orientation on children's self-efficacy and engagement and persistence at a puzzle task.

SAMPLE

A self-report learning goal orientation scale was completed by 110 children, aged 9-11 years. Fifty-three children (24 girls) selected to be high and low on the scale participated in the experiment.

METHODS

Half of the children were given instructions designed to evoke learning goals, while the remainder received performance goal instructions. Children attempted a difficult puzzle task on two occasions, when measures were made of self-regulatory behaviours.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Children assigned to the learning goal instruction were more likely to persist at the task until the end of the allotted time, displayed more on-task behaviour and engaged in more autonomous help-seeking. These effects were more pronounced following the first task, which all children had been unable to complete. Dispositional task orientation did not predict individual differences on these measures. The findings are interpreted in terms of learned helplessness and self-worth theory.

In praise of blushing

Many people are extremely anxious about their blushing and regard it as the cause of their social difficulties rather than as a symptom of them. This paper addresses the belief that there is something inherently unpleasant or unattractive about blushing. Historical evidence shows that redness of the cheeks has long been regarded as a sign of facial beauty and youth, and transitory changes such as the blush have also been seen in a positive light as an indication of modesty and charm. The blush is an expression of shame and embarrassment and it too can be regarded in positive or negative light depending on the circumstances. What is distinctive about contemporary anxieties about blushing is that perceived personal inadequacies are in themselves reason to be ashamed and embarrassed: there is a vicious circle where a blush is both a sign of, and reason for, self-deprecation. This perception is not a necessary one but reflects current cultural values and this has implications for the treatment of blushing anxieties.

The influence of shyness on children's test performance

BACKGROUND

Research has shown that shy children differ from their peers not only in their use of language in routine social encounters but also in formal assessments of their language development, including psychometric tests of vocabulary. There has been little examination of factors contributing to these individual differences.

AIMS

To investigate cognitive-competence and social anxiety interpretations of differences in children's performance on tests of vocabulary. To examine the performance of shy and less shy children under different conditions of test administration, individually with an examiner or among their peers within the familiar classroom setting.

SAMPLE

The sample consisted of 240 Year 5 pupils (122 male, 118 female) from 24 primary schools.

METHOD

Shy and less shy children, identified by teacher nomination and checklist ratings, completed vocabulary and mental arithmetic tests in one of three conditions, in a between-subjects design. The conditions varied individual and group administration, and oral and written responses.

RESULTS

The conditions of test administration influenced the vocabulary test performance of shy children. They performed significantly more poorly than their peers in the two face-to-face conditions but not in the group test condition. A comparable trend for the arithmetic test was not statistically significant. Across the sample as a whole, shyness correlated significantly with test scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Shyness does influence children's cognitive test performance and its impact is larger when children are tested face-to-face rather than in a more anonymous group setting. The results are of significance for theories of shyness and have implications for the assessment of schoolchildren.

Phobic anxiety in 11 nations. Part I: Dimensional constancy of the five-factor model

The Fear Survey Schedule-III (FSS-III) was administered to a total of 5491 students in Australia, East Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, and Venezuela, and submitted to the multiple group method of confirmatory analysis (MGM) in order to determine the cross-national dimensional constancy of the five-factor model of self-assessed fears originally established in Dutch, British, and Canadian samples. The model comprises fears of bodily injury-illness-death, agoraphobic fears, social fears, fears of sexual and aggressive scenes, and harmless animals fears. Close correspondence between the factors was demonstrated across national samples. In each country, the corresponding scales were internally consistent, were intercorrelated at magnitudes comparable to those yielded in the original samples, and yielded (in 93% of the total number of 55 comparisons) sex differences in line with the usual finding (higher scores for females). In each country, the relatively largest sex differences were obtained on harmless animals fears. The organization of self-assessed fears is sufficiently similar across nations to warrant the use of the same weight matrix (scoring key) for the FSS-III in the different countries and to make cross-national comparisons feasible. This opens the way to further studies that attempt to predict (on an a priori basis) cross-national variations in fear levels with dimensions of national cultures.

Name-calling and nicknames in a sample of primary school children

BACKGROUND

Name-calling, unkind nicknames and other forms of verbal harassment represent some of the most prevalent forms of bullying in school but they have been little studied. Name-calling and nicknames in particular are ambiguous social events that can serve positive as well as negative goals, and their adverse consequences can be difficult to identify.

AIMS

(i) To assess the incidence of nicknames and name calling as reported by a sample of primary school children; (ii) to examine the kinds of names reported by children, and to relate these to names reported in other social contexts; (iii) to explore the impact that name-calling and nicknames have on children.

SAMPLE

Pupils (N = 60) from the top two classes in a British primary school completed a questionnaire; 20 of the children were subsequently interviewed.

METHOD

Pupils completed a questionnaire that was constructed for this study. Pupils were asked to provide examples of nicknames and to report on the types and incidence of several forms of verbal harassment. The interview included questions which aimed to explore the children's reactions to harassment.

RESULTS

Being called disliked nicknames, called names, teased, and other forms of verbal harassment were reported by most of the sample, with more than 20% of children experiencing nasty comments and unkind nicknames on a daily basis. Girls reported more disliked nicknames than boys. The most common nicknames referred to the child's appearance, whereas nasty comments and untrue stories contained a preponderance of sexual references. In the interview, nearly all children reported that being called names and nicknames were negative experiences that caused distress.

CONCLUSIONS

Name-calling and the assignment of unkind nicknames are prevalent and hurtful++ features of school life. The kinds of names are similar to those reported in other studies of children, adolescents, and adults. It is proposed that these names are hurtful because they threaten the child's identity.

Shyness and self-esteem in middle childhood

The relationship between shyness and self-esteem was assessed for two samples of children aged 9 to 12 years. Shyness was measured by a new self-report questionnaire based on an elicitation of children's conceptions of shyness. Shyness was significantly correlated with measures of global self-esteem, with external locus of control and with perceived competence across different domains of the self. The relationship among variables were similar to those reported for adolescents and adults. Girls were more shy than boys, and there was a suggestion that 11-year-old children were more shy in secondary than in primary school.

Blushing, embarrassability and self-consciousness

A blushing questionnaire and the Self-Consciousness scale (SCS) were completed by 86 respondents. A measure of the tendency to blush correlated significantly with the Social Anxiety subscale of the SCS, but not with the public and private subscales. Self-rated tendency to blush was significantly correlated with rated likelihood of blushing in those situations where the individual had some responsibility for an embarrassing incident, but not in situations where others had instigated the incident.

Shyness as a dimension of personality

Examination of a number of major studies of personality questionnaires reveals the existence of a shyness factor which is related to but separable from both introversion and neuroticism, and which loads on items referring to feeling uncomfortable and self-conscious, and keeping in the background in certain kinds of social situations. The fears that are generally expressed about social situations--of being negatively evaluated and of being socially inadequate--are reflected in subjects' descriptions of the causes of shyness, and these findings suggest a model of shyness in terms of individual differences in susceptibility to threat.