Positive and negative expressions of shyness in toddlers: Are they related to anxiety in the same way?

Abstract

Shyness has generally been investigated as a negative and unpleasant emotional state, strongly related to social anxiety and loneliness. However, recent evidence has suggested that shyness may have a positive and socially adaptive form. We examined whether the positive expression of shyness differs from the negative expression of shyness during toddlerhood, and whether a negative relation to anxiety exists. Participants were 30-month-old children (N=102; 56 girls) who were asked to mimic animal sounds with a novel person (performance) and then to watch their performance (self-watching). Their expression of pleasure (positive reactions) and distress (negative reactions), as well as their positive and negative expressions of shyness, were coded. Children's temperamental level of shyness, sociability, and anxiety were measured with parent-reported questionnaires. Toddlers produced more positive and negative displays of shyness in the performance task than in the self-watching task. Children's positive expression of shyness was associated with lower parent-reported anxiety and higher sociability. Negative reactions, but not negative shyness, were related to children's higher anxiety levels and lower sociability. Multiple linear regression analyses confirmed a negative predictive role of the positive expression of shyness on anxiety. These results suggest that the positive expression of shyness can regulate early anxiety symptoms and already serves a social function in interpersonal interactions in early childhood.

Blushing in early childhood: Feeling coy or socially anxious?

“…Expressed in a negative way, shyness involves inhibited and withdrawn social behaviors (Buss & Goldsmith, 2000;Leary, 2001), with aversions and negative facial expressions (Colonnesi et al, 2014). Expressed in a positive way, shyness includes a coy smile-smiling with a simultaneous aversion of a gaze and/or head just before the decline of the peak of the smile (Asendorpf, 1990;Colonnesi et al, 2013Colonnesi et al, , 2014Reddy, 2000Reddy, , 2005.…”

“…Recent studies (Colonnesi, Napoleone, & Bögels, 2014;Reddy, 2005) have added a new component to the research of shyness by distinguishing between the more positive and more negative aspects of shyness during infancy and childhood. From this perspective, shyness is defined as the behavioral and emotional ambivalence during social situations, expressed by both approach and withdrawal from an interaction (Asendorpf, 1990;Lewis, 2001), experienced as a more positive or more negative affect, and therefore expressed in a more positive or a more negative way (Colonnesi et al, 2014;Reddy, 2005).…”

“…Shyness is usually discussed as a form of social fear, tension, and concern (Buss, 1980); as discomfort, inhibition, and reticence in the presence of others (Jones, Briggs, & Smith, 1986); and as a tendency to avoid social situations and withdraw due to feeling nervous or uncomfortable (Henderson & Zimbardo, 1998;Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009). Recent studies (Colonnesi, Napoleone, & Bögels, 2014;Reddy, 2005) have added a new component to the research of shyness by distinguishing between the more positive and more negative aspects of shyness during infancy and childhood. From this perspective, shyness is defined as the behavioral and emotional ambivalence during social situations, expressed by both approach and withdrawal from an interaction (Asendorpf, 1990;Lewis, 2001), experienced as a more positive or more negative affect, and therefore expressed in a more positive or a more negative way (Colonnesi et al, 2014;Reddy, 2005).…”

“…Behaviorally, children express shy emotion with gaze and/or head aversion and body touching with or without a smile (Colonnesi, Bögels, de Vente, & Majdandžić, 2013;Colonnesi et al, 2014;Reddy, 2000Reddy, , 2005. Expressed in a negative way, shyness involves inhibited and withdrawn social behaviors (Buss & Goldsmith, 2000;Leary, 2001), with aversions and negative facial expressions (Colonnesi et al, 2014).…”

“…Expressed in a negative way, shyness involves inhibited and withdrawn social behaviors (Buss & Goldsmith, 2000;Leary, 2001), with aversions and negative facial expressions (Colonnesi et al, 2014). Expressed in a positive way, shyness includes a coy smile-smiling with a simultaneous aversion of a gaze and/or head just before the decline of the peak of the smile (Asendorpf, 1990;Colonnesi et al, 2013Colonnesi et al, , 2014Reddy, 2000Reddy, , 2005. Coy smiles in childhood typically occur in social situations such as greeting a stranger or performing in public and are seen as a behavioral strategy that has a function to resolve a conflict between competing feelings of interest (excitement and pleasure) and wariness (discomfort and fear) in the child (Thompson & Calkins, 1996).…”