Relations of Shyness and Low Sociability to Regulation and Emotionality

• Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology Vol. 68; no. 3; pp. 505 - 517
• Main Authors: Eisenberg, Nancy, Fabes, Richard A, Murphy, Bridget C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychological Association 01-03-1995
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult; Arousal; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Emotionality; Emotionality (Personality); Emotions; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Humans; Internal-External Control; Interpersonal relations; Male; Personality; Personality Assessment; Personality Inventory; Personality traits; Personality. Affectivity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Relationship; Self-Monitoring (Personality); Shyness; Sociability; Social Adjustment; Social Behavior; Social interaction; Social Isolation; Social psychology; Timidity; Autoregulation; Human; Affect affectivity; Self evaluation; Emotion emotionality; Empathy; Personality; Stress; Social behavior; Social interaction; Coping; Peer review; Timidity
• ISSN: 0022-3514; 1939-1315
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.68.3.505

The relations of shyness and low sociability (i.e., the nonfearful preference to be alone) to measures of regulation and emotionality were examined. College students and (for some variables) friends reported on their relevant dispositional characteristics. In general, shyness was associated with low regulation and high negative emotionality (including intensity, negative affectivity, and personal distress), low positive affect, and low constructive coping. In contrast, low sociability was unrelated to negative emotionality; associated with low positive emotional intensity, low physiological reactivity, and high inhibition control; and correlated with low seeking of social support as a means of coping. The findings are considered within a heuristic model in which emotional reactivity and regulation are proposed as predictors of social responding.