Bashful Boys and Coy Girls: A Review of Gender Differences in Childhood Shyness

Shyness is a temperamental trait characterized by a fear of novel social situations and self-consciousness in situations of perceived social evaluation. From early childhood to adolescence, shyness is associated with a host of negative outcomes including poor peer relationships (e.g., exclusion, victimization), internalizing problems (e.g., anxiety, depression), and school adjustment difficulties (e.g., lack of academic success, school avoidance). It has been suggested that shyness may be less socially acceptable for boys than for girls because it violates gender norms related to male social assertion and dominance. In the current paper, we review the empirical support for this assertion. More specifically, we examined: (1) possible gender differences in the prevalence of shyness; (2) how important others (i.e., parents, teachers, peers) might respond differentially to shyness in boys compared to girls; and (3) potential gender differences in the implications of shyness across multiple domains. Most of this research has been conducted with school-aged children from Canada and the United States. However, we also explore findings from emerging cross-cultural studies in this area. Possible conceptual mechanisms that may underlie differences in the potential implications of shyness for boys and girls are then discussed, as well as several prospective directions for future research.     

Mothers’ Gender-Role Attitudes and Their Responses to Young Children’s Hypothetical Display of Shy and Aggressive Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of child gender and maternal gender-role attitudes in mothers’ reactions to hypothetical vignettes depicting their preschool-aged child displaying aggressive and shy behaviors. Participants were 78 mothers of preschool-aged children (43 girls, 35 boys; M _age?=?47.44?months, SD?=?11.00) living in a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Mothers provided reports of their gender-role attitudes and rated their expectancies and emotional/behavioral reactions following hypothetical vignettes depicting their child displaying physically aggressive and shy-withdrawn behaviors. It was hypothesized that mothers would respond with more negative (and less positive) emotions and expectancies in response to children’s gender-incongruent problem behaviors (i.e., shyness among boys, aggression among girls). It was further hypothesized that these gender effects would be more pronounced among mothers espousing more traditional (i.e., less egalitarian) gender-role attitudes. Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that mothers anticipated more negative consequences to aggression among boys than among girls. Several significant interaction effects also emerged between child gender and maternal gender-role attitudes, particularly with regards to children’s shyness. Among mothers of boys, a more egalitarian gender-role attitude was associated with greater anticipated benefits of shyness, and both more positive and more negative emotional responses to shyness. For mothers of girls, however, the opposite pattern emerged. Results provide some support for the notion that mothers may enforce gender-typical social behaviors in their children, particularly if they themselves hold more traditional gender-role attitudes.     

Commentary: Bashful Boys and Coy Girls: A Review of Gender Differences in Childhood Shyness

In this commentary we argue that subjective reviews of gender differences, as opposed to empirical meta-analyses, can be more affected by influences which may not yield an objective evaluation of the available evidence, including the potential overrepresentation of articles that do versus do not find gender differences and lack of a systematic evaluation of factors that influence findings. We consider theoretical bases for considering shyness to be detrimental to the development and wellbeing of girls. These include perspectives that characterize girls as being particularly affected by their personal relationships and children of both genders as influenced by patterns of same-gender interaction. Some perspectives are helpful in conceptualizing why gender difference patterns can be nuanced over the course of development, across different outcomes, contexts, and historical periods. We also briefly consider the utility of diathesis × stress and differential susceptibility models in understanding gendered patterns of adjustment. We argue that reviews of gender differences in childhood shyness should address the gender difference paradox in childhood shyness and anxiety. That is, why are gender differences in the prevalence of shyness typically absent in early to middle childhood (as concluded in the review article), but girls and women consistently demonstrate higher rates of anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder, than their male counterparts in adolescence and adulthood? Finally, we conclude with comments encouraging researchers to consider the potential consequences of how they convey messages about gender differences in childhood shyness. We suggest how such information can be communicated in a responsible manner.     

Motivations for social withdrawal and academic adjustment in emerging adulthood

While social withdrawal in childhood is typically associated with lower academic functioning, little is known about how motivations for social withdrawal may be connected to academic adjustment in emerging adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to examine associations between social withdrawal motivations (i.e., shyness, avoidance and unsociability) and indices of academic adjustment, including academic achievement (i.e., grade point average [GPA]) and academic motivation (i.e., intrinsic value, self-efficacy and test anxiety), while accounting for gender and conscientiousness. Participants were 623 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25 (M_age = 20.15, SD = 1.67; 79% female) who were currently attending university. Hierarchical regression results showed that shyness was negatively associated with intrinsic value and self-efficacy. Whereas shyness was positively associated with test anxiety, avoidance was negatively associated with test anxiety. Social withdrawal motivations were not associated with GPA. The findings suggest that some motivations for social withdrawal play a role in university students’ academic motivation, but not their academic achievement.     

Crossover,Degendering, or…? A Multidimensional Approach to Life-Span Gender Development

Inspired by Sandra Bem and subsequent theorists, we examine gender as a multidimensional construct that differs across adulthood to test claims made by two different theories of life-span gender development—that men and women cross over and become more like the other gender with age, and that aging involves degendering or viewing gender as a less central aspect of the self. Self-report survey data from a U.S. sample of men and women recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (25–89 years, M age?=?47.38, SD?=?14.05) were used to investigate the extent to which stereotypically masculine traits; stereotypically feminine traits; androgyny; gender identification (i.e., identifying with one’s gender group and viewing this as a positive part of the self); and gender typicality (i.e., viewing oneself as a typical member of one’s gender group) differ between younger (i.e., under age 40), middle-aged (i.e., ages 40–59), and older men and women (i.e., age 60 and older) and by marital status. Results indicate that gender differences in stereotypically masculine and feminine personality traits exist, and that marital status moderates age and gender differences in traits. Among older men, those who are married are more likely to endorse stereotypically masculine traits, but also have higher androgyny scores than unmarried men. With age, both men and women perceive themselves as more typical examples of their gender group. Results are discussed as providing limited support for crossover theory, but not degendering.     

Gender Differences in Social Dominance Orientation: Gender Invariance May Be Situation Invariance

Most studies of gender differences in social dominance orientation (SDO) have investigated settings more or less hierarchy-enhancing. The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in SDO (1) within social structures varying in equality-enhancement, i.e., communities differing in political equality between men and women, and (2) settings where equality was maximized and held constant, i.e., democratic, voluntary associations, but varying in gender composition, using survey data from a random sample of 831 Swedish adults (median age?=?47 years). There was a significant interaction effect between gender and membership in voluntary associations dominated by women, with men and women displaying equally low levels of SDO. In all other instances the main effect of gender remained statistically significant.     

The role of emotion knowledge in the links between shyness and children's socio‐emotional functioning at preschool

The present study investigated the potential protective role of components of emotion knowledge (i.e., emotion recognition, situation knowledge) in the links between young children's shyness and indices of socio‐emotional functioning. Participants were n = 163 children (82 boys and 81 girls) aged 23–77 months (M = 53.29, SD = 14.48), recruited from preschools in Italy. Parents provided ratings of child shyness and teachers rated children's socio‐emotional functioning at preschool (i.e., social competence, anxiety‐withdrawal, peer rejection). Children were also interviewed to assess their abilities to recognize facial emotional expressions and identify situations that affect emotions. Among the results, shyness was positively related to anxiety‐withdrawal and peer rejection. In addition, emotion recognition was found to significantly moderate the links between shyness and preschool socio‐emotional functioning, appearing to serve a buffering role. For example, at lower levels of emotion recognition, shyness was positively associated with both anxiety‐withdrawal and rejection by peers, but at higher levels of emotion recognition, these associations were attenuated. Results are discussed in terms of the protective role of emotion recognition in promoting shy children's positive socio‐emotional functioning within the classroom context.     

Childhood Trauma, Adult Sexual Assault, and Adult Gender Expression among Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Several studies have demonstrated that lesbian and bisexual women are more likely than heterosexual women to report childhood abuse and adult sexual assault. It is unknown, however, which sexual minority women are most likely to experience such abuse. We recruited adult sexual minority women living in the US through electronic fliers sent to listservs and website groups inviting them to complete an online survey (N?=?1,243). We examined differences in both childhood abuse and adult sexual assault by women’s current gender identity (i.e., butch, femme, androgynous, or other) and a continuous measure of gender expression (from butch/masculine to femme/feminine), adjusting for sexual orientation identity, age, education, and income. Results indicated that a more butch/masculine current self-assessment of gender expression, but not gender identity, was associated with more overall reported childhood trauma. Although one aspect of gender expression, a more butch/masculine gender role, was associated with adult sexual assault, feminine appearance and a femme gender identity also significantly predicted adult sexual assault. These findings highlight the significance of gender identity and expression in identifying women at greater risk for various abuse experiences.     

The association between self-reported mother-child attachment and social initiative and withdrawal in Chinese school-aged children

The purpose of this study was to examine relations between mother-child attachment and social initiative and withdrawal in Chinese urban children. Participants were 487 school-aged children (247 boys, 240 girls) in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Data on mother-child attachment styles were collected from children's self-reports. Information concerning social initiative and social withdrawal (i.e., shyness and social disinterest) was obtained from peer nomination. Path analyses revealed that secure attachment was positively associated with social initiative, whereas ambivalent-insecure attachment was positively associated with shyness. However, avoidant-insecure attachment was not significantly associated with social disinterest. In addition, a number of gender and developmental differences were also observed.     

Pathology,pseudopathology, and the Dark Triad of personality

The Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) have traditionally been viewed as undesirable and pathological. In contrast, an evolutionary perspective suggests that traits like these might be pseudopathologies; traits that society actively dislikes in that they pose a threat to the collective good. We examined (N = 290) how the Dark Triad traits related to intrapersonal (i.e., behavioral dysfunction), quasibehavioral (i.e., reactive and proactive aggression), and interpersonal (i.e., communal and exchange orientation) factors. Psychopathy predicted high rates of behavioral dysregulation and both forms of aggression. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism showed an aversion towards communalism but an exchange orientation to social relationships. Lastly, individual differences in the Dark Triad traits accounted for part (5–22%) of the sex differences in social strategies and aggression. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in, and in support of, an evolutionary paradigm.     

A New Perspective on Temperamental Shyness: Differential Susceptibility to Endoenvironmental Influences

In this review, we adapt and extend a model recently used to account for differences in risk and resiliency outcomes to explain individual differences in temperamental shyness. The differential susceptibility to environmental influences model posits that heightened biological sensitivity and reactivity in the individual can predict different outcomes for better or for worse, depending on environmental influences outside (i.e., exogenous) of the individual. In this article, we extend this existing model and argue that the environment can also be conceptualized as a unique set of dynamic conditions and influences operating within (i.e., endogenous) the individual that are orthogonal to some biological sensitivity factors. In this new model, continuous brain electrical activity at rest constitutes one endogenous environmental condition that can vary (leftward to rightward) and influence gene expression to confer different outcomes, for better (sociability) or for worse (shyness). We then discuss how this model can be tested, as well as its potential implications for theory, development, and practice.     

A cross-cultural examination of implicit attitudes toward shyness in Canada and China

The goal of this research was to explore implicit and explicit attitudes about shyness in Canada and Mainland China. In Study 1, Canadian undergraduate students (N = 650) completed a newly developed online version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) focused on shyness, as well as questionnaires about their own shyness and explicit beliefs about shyness. Results suggested that Canadian university students automatically associated shyness with negative words. In Study 2, Chinese undergraduate students (N = 290) completed a newly developed Mandarin Chinese online version of the IAT related to shyness, as well as questionnaires of their own shyness explicit beliefs about shyness. Results indicated that Chinese students also automatically associated shyness with negative words, but differences were observed in the pattern of association with participants’ own shyness. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of attitudes toward shyness in both cultures.     

Reasoning About Single-Sex Schooling for Girls Among Students,Parents, and Teachers

The number of United States public schools offering single-sex education for girls has increased dramatically in the past decade. Rationales for all-girls schools are diverse and grounded in differing gender ideologies. We examined reasoning about all-girls schools among school stakeholders (i.e., individuals affected by single-sex schools, including students, parents, and teachers) in the Southwestern United States. Specifically, middle school students attending all-girls (n?=?398) and coeducational (n?=?191) schools, mothers of middle school students attending all-girls (n?=?217) and coeducational (n?=?64) schools, and teachers employed at all-girls (n?=?18) and coeducational (n?=?97) middle schools rated the veracity of multiple rationales for girls-only schools. Specifically, we examined rationales for single-sex schooling related to gender differences in learning, gender differences in interests, girls’ ingroup preference, and gender discrimination. Endorsement of rationales differed across participant role (student, parent, teacher) and school type (single-sex, coeducational). Overall, stakeholders affiliated with an all-girls school were more supportive of each rationale than stakeholders affiliated with coeducational schools. Teachers affiliated with the single-sex school strongly endorsed gender differences in learning as a rationale for single-sex schooling. Endorsement of rationales did not vary across participant gender. The implications of these findings for educational policy and the interpretation of research on single-sex schooling are discussed.     

Is Sexism a Gender Issue? A Motivated Social Cognition Perspective on Men's and Women's Sexist Attitudes Toward Own and Other Gender

The present research investigated the antecedents of ambivalent sexism (i.e., hostile and benevolent forms) in both men and women toward own and other gender. In two heterogeneous adult samples (Study 1: N = 179 and Study 2: N = 222), it was revealed that gender itself was only a minor predictor of sexist attitudes compared with the substantial impact of individual differences in general motivated cognition (i.e., need for closure). Analyses further showed that the relationship between need for closure and sexism was mediated by social attitudes (i.e., right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), which were differently related to benevolent and hostile forms of sexism. In the discussion, it is argued that sexism primarily stems from individual differences in motivated cognitive style, which relates to peoples' perspective on the social world, rather than from group differences between men and women. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stoicism and Sensation Seeking: Male Vulnerabilities for the Acquired Capability for Suicide

Our aim was to investigate two personality traits (i.e., stoicism and sensation seeking) that may account for well-established gender differences in suicide, within the framework of the interpersonal theory of suicide. This theory proposes that acquired capability for suicide, a construct comprised of pain insensitivity and fearlessness about death, explains gender differences in suicide. Across two samples of undergraduates (N = 185 and N = 363), men demonstrated significantly greater levels of both facets of acquired capability than women. Further, we found that stoicism accounted for the relationship between gender and pain insensitivity, and sensation seeking accounted for the relationship between gender and fearlessness about death. Thus, personality may be one psychological mechanism accounting for gender differences in suicidal behavior.     

A systematic review of interventions to promote growth following adversity

BackgroundAthletes experience adversity across many aspects of their lives. Challenging the dominant idea that adversity is just a negative experience, a significant body of research in sport has demonstrated that these adverse events can also act as catalysts for positive change (Howells, Sarkar, & Fletcher, 2017). Yet, a limited number of researchers have focused on how to promote growth following adversity in sport. To support this line of inquiry our aim in this study was to facilitate knowledge transfer from other psychology disciplines by systematically reviewing intervention studies that aim to foster growth following adversity.MethodsWe conducted the systematic review using PRISMA guidelines. Following inclusion and exclusion criteria, we appraised the studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (Pluye & Hong, 2014).ResultsThirty-six studies were included in the review. We synthesized the studies in relation to participant characteristics (i.e., sample size, age, gender, ethnicity, adversity), study characteristics (i.e., design, content, duration, delivery, outcome measures), intervention outcomes (i.e., statistical significance, effect size, qualitative indicators of growth), antecedents (viz. mediators, moderators), and quality appraisal.ConclusionIn the discussion we critically consider the lessons sport and exercise psychology researchers can learn from published intervention studies from other fields of research (e.g., the use of meaningful metrics, that there are different trajectories of growth, growth is a multidimensional phenomenon). Future researchers should seek to build on findings to advance knowledge and understanding in the most significant and meaningful ways.     

3～8年级学生羞怯与心理适应之关系:一个有中介的调节模型检验

以1485名3-8年级学生为研究对象,借助同伴评价和自我报告,考察性别对羞怯和心理适应关系的调节效应以及同伴关系不良在上述调节效应中的中介作用。研究结果表明:(1)羞怯、同伴关系不良、孤独和抑郁的性别差异显著。女孩的羞怯水平显著高于男孩,而同伴关系不良、孤独、抑郁水平则显著低于男孩;(2)羞怯与同伴关系不良、孤独、抑郁呈较弱的正相关,而与自尊呈较弱的负相关;(3)羞怯与孤独、抑郁、自尊的关系受性别因素的调节,羞怯男孩面临的心理适应风险高于羞怯女孩;(4)性别对羞怯和孤独、抑郁、自尊关系的调节通过同伴关系不良这一中介因素而实现,间接效应占总效应的比例在25%至47%之间。这一结果表明,羞怯的适应价值存在性别差异,而同伴关系在其中扮演着重要的中介角色。     

Enabling,facilitating, and precipitating factors associated with women's career orientation

Women who had completed a career/life survey 13 to 21 years after enrolling as freshmen in college were classified as career (N = 372) or homemaker (N = 797) oriented on the basis of their actual work experiences. Statistically significant differences between the groups were found on 90% of the variables within the enabling conditions (i.e., family characteristics), 60% of the variables within the facilitating conditions (i.e., educational and vocational characteristics), and 88% of the variables within the precipitating conditions (i.e., attitudinal factors). The proportion of variance accounted for in career orientation by these variables varied from 0 to 32%. The variables which best differentiated between the two groups were categorized within the enabling conditions. The results are discussed in terms of previous theory, research, and practical application.