Childhood shyness: An exemplar of the interface of cognition and emotion in human development.

Abstract

S hyness reflects fear and an anxious preoccupation with the self in response to real or anticipated social interaction (Melchior & Cheek, 1990). Inherent in this definition is the idea that the interdependence of cognitive and emotional processes plays a critical role in shyness. However, much of the theoretical and empirical work to date on the study of shyness has focused largely on the independence of cognitive and emotional processes in understanding shyness, with relatively little discussion of how the interdependence of cognition and emotion might advance our understanding of shyness. In this chapter, we argue that examining the interdependence of cognition and emotion may allow for additional understanding of the development and maintenance of shyness.In Figure 9.1, a Venn diagram illustrates how shyness can be positioned within the interdependence of cognition and emotion. In this figure, the gray ring denotes cognitive processes, reflecting slower and more planful and controlled processes, while the black ring denotes emotional processes, reflectingThe writing of this chapter was supported by operating grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes of Health awarded to Louis A. Schmidt; an SSHRC Vanier Graduate Scholarship awarded to Raha Hassan; a Graduate Scholarship from the Chinese Government awarded to Xiaoxue Kong; an SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Taigan L. MacGowan; and a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Kristie L. Poole. The last four authors contributed equally to the writing of this chapter and are listed alphabetically.