Shyness Among Adolescents
Shahana K T
*Correspondence to: Shahana K T
Copyright
© 2026 Shahana K T, This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received: 09 March 2026
Published: 01 April 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19362957
Introduction
The transition from childhood to adolescence involves many dramatic changes. Adolescents must contend with three major sources of changes: the bodily changes of puberty, the new cognitive abilities of formal operations, and new demands and opportunities caused by changing social roles and relationships (Damon, 1983). As Buss (1980) has noted, the most prominent cause of shyness is novelty, thus, it is not surprising that early adolescence is the time of greatest shyness in the course of personality and social development (Zimbardo, 1977). Shyness culminates in inadequate participation in social activities and is a major constraint in human relationship especially among secondary school students. Various terms have been used to describe the experience of apprehension and anxiety in social settings. The behavior has been conceptualized as social anxiety, shyness, speech anxiety, social phobia, social inhibition, reticence, communication apprehension, stage fright and audience anxiety (Crozier, 2000). Buss (1980) defined shyness as an inhibition of expected social behavior together with feelings of tension and awkwardness. A key aspect of shyness is that it leads to inadequate participation in social activities. Shyness has been defined as a tendency to avoid social interaction and to fail to participate appropriately in social situations (Durmus, 2007; Scholmerich, Broberg and Lamb, 2000). Buss (1980) defined shyness as discomfort, inhibition, awkwardness in social situations, particularly in situations with unfamiliar people. According to Bas (2010), shyness may vary from mild, social awkwardness to totally inhibiting social phobia.
Shyness may occur due to fear of what other people will think and say about a person’s behavior. Thus, the fear of negative reactions, criticism and outright rejection may cause the shy person to avoid social situations. Consequently, shyness is a term often used to describe the discomfort people feel in social situations.
Shyness is a feeling of fear or discomfort caused by other people, especially in new situations or among strangers. It’s an unpleasant feeling of self-consciousness; a fear of what some people believe others are thinking. This fear can inhibit a person’s ability to do or say what they want. It can also prevent the formation of healthy relationships. Shyness is often linked to low self-esteem. It may also be one of the causes of social anxiety. About 15 percent of infants are born with a tendency toward shyness. Research has shown biological differences in the brains of shy people. However, the propensity for shyness also is influenced by social experiences. It’s believed that most shy children develop shyness because of interactions with parents. Parents who are authoritarian or overprotective can cause their children to be shy. Children who aren’t allowed to experience things may have trouble developing social skills. A warm, caring approach to rearing children usually results in them being more comfortable around others. Schools, neighborhoods, communities, and culture all shape a child. Connections a child makes within these networks contribute to their development. Children with shy parents may emulate that behavior. In adults, highly critical work environments and public humiliation can lead to shyness (Legg, 2019).
This includes child abuse, particularly emotional abuse such as ridicule. Shyness can originate after a person has experienced a physical anxiety reaction; at other times, shyness seems to develop first and then later causes physical symptoms of anxiety. Shyness differs from social anxiety, which is a broader, often depression related psychological condition including the experience of fear, apprehension or worrying about being evaluated by others in social situations to the extent of inducing panic. Shyness may come from genetic traits, the environment in which a person is raised and personal experiences. Shyness may be a personality trait or can occur at certain stages of development in children.
Shyness is often seen as a hindrance to people and their development. The cause of shyness is often disputed but it is found that fear is positively related to shyness, suggesting that fearful children are much more likely to develop being shy as opposed to children less fearful. Shyness can also be seen on a biological level as a result of an excess of cortisol. When cortisol is present in greater quantities it is known to suppress an individual's immune system, making them more susceptible to illness and disease. The genetics of shyness is a relatively small area of research that has been receiving an even smaller amount of attention, although papers on the biological bases of shyness date back to 1988.
Introversion, Shyness and Social Anxiety
There are very distinct characteristics to each and they should not be confused. Introversion, shyness, and being socially anxious each have their own underlying reasons for why a person would rather stay in than go hang out with their friends.
Shyness is a personality trait encompassing a type of inhibition or discomfort shown by individuals in interpersonal situations that will significantly affect their participation in activities (Henderson and Zimbardo, 2001; Lo Coco et al., 2018). As a personality trait, shyness is a key factor affecting individual behavioral characteristics. Studies have found that individuals with shy tendencies account for 48% of the total sample (Heiser et al., 2003). Lei and Zhang (2002) found that sh