Bernado Carducci, Ph.D
Professor of psychology and director of the
Shyness Research Institute at
Indiana University Southeast.
One of the first anthropological approaches I will go into is the Biological Approach. This approach looks at the distribution of different illnesses. Evolutionary processes (such as natural selection, genetic drift) of human genetic variations between an individual in a population in response to environmental stressor (as a disease) are taken into account.
Doctor Karen Payne defines Shyness as a feeling of discomfort, or a behavior that inhibits social/ interpersonal situations, and may impede one from achieving her goals in any sense. Shyness results in excessive self-focus and worry (Payne) . Dr. Carducci, a professor of psychology, states that shyness
involves a sense of self with three major features: excessive self-consciousness (you are overly aware of yourself in social situation), excessive negative self-evaluation (you tend to see yourself negatively),
excessive negative self-preoccupation (you focus on all the things you do wrong when you're around people) (Carducci, 2008). Since a one doesn't develop a sense of self until 18 months of age, Dr. Carducci suggests one cannot be born shy (Carducci, 2008).
An article of the New York Times- Sunday Review, Susan Cain mentioned the work of biologist, David Sloan Wilson, who discovered that " "Evolution [is] for Everyone [...] but rather a diversity of personalities maintained by natural selection” ". Wilson worked with fishes. He introduced a trap into the pond. The extrovert fishes investigated the trap, and got trapped. Whereas, the introvert ones stayed back and never got caught in the trap. He later netted them and brought them back to his laboratories. He fed them, and the extroverts quickly adapted to the new food, but the introverts refused the food at first. His work displayed that under different environmental conditions, different traits are more advantageous than others. Cain listed successful people who were more reserved, "Charles Darwin, Marcel Proust and Albert Einstein, and, in contemporary times: think of Google’s Larry Page, or Harry Potter’s creator, J. K. Rowling". ...the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone ... Not on a committee. Not on a team..." (Cain, 2011).
Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling. When shy children are punished for wrong doing, they develop anxiety, which develops into "pro-social behaviors", and may help them conscientiously. "Shy children are often easier to socialize and more conscientious, according to the developmental psychologist Grazyna Kochanska. By 6 they’re less likely than their peers to cheat or break rules, even when they think they can’t be caught, according to one study. By 7 they’re more likely to be described by their parents as having high levels of moral traits such as empathy", which are important social traits (Cain, 2011).
The definition of shyness defined by Dr. Payne earlier condemns this characteristic as interfering with ones success. However, we can see evidences that shyness in people can sometimes help them focus in a skill that sets them apart from the general body, and it even produces desirable morality.
Citations:
Cain, Susan. "Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?", The New York Times, June 25, 2011, accessed August 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/opinion/sunday/26shyness.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Carducci, Bernado J. "Breaking the Ice", Psychology Today, June 16, 2008, accessed July 13, 2013,
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/breaking-the-ice/200806/are-we-born-shy.
Payne, Karen. "Understanding and Overcoming Shyness", Caltech Counseling Center, accessed July 25, 2013, http://counseling.caltech.edu/general/InfoandResources/Shyness.
Professor of psychology and director of the
Shyness Research Institute at
Indiana University Southeast.
One of the first anthropological approaches I will go into is the Biological Approach. This approach looks at the distribution of different illnesses. Evolutionary processes (such as natural selection, genetic drift) of human genetic variations between an individual in a population in response to environmental stressor (as a disease) are taken into account.
Doctor Karen Payne defines Shyness as a feeling of discomfort, or a behavior that inhibits social/ interpersonal situations, and may impede one from achieving her goals in any sense. Shyness results in excessive self-focus and worry (Payne) . Dr. Carducci, a professor of psychology, states that shyness
involves a sense of self with three major features: excessive self-consciousness (you are overly aware of yourself in social situation), excessive negative self-evaluation (you tend to see yourself negatively),
excessive negative self-preoccupation (you focus on all the things you do wrong when you're around people) (Carducci, 2008). Since a one doesn't develop a sense of self until 18 months of age, Dr. Carducci suggests one cannot be born shy (Carducci, 2008).
An article of the New York Times- Sunday Review, Susan Cain mentioned the work of biologist, David Sloan Wilson, who discovered that " "Evolution [is] for Everyone [...] but rather a diversity of personalities maintained by natural selection” ". Wilson worked with fishes. He introduced a trap into the pond. The extrovert fishes investigated the trap, and got trapped. Whereas, the introvert ones stayed back and never got caught in the trap. He later netted them and brought them back to his laboratories. He fed them, and the extroverts quickly adapted to the new food, but the introverts refused the food at first. His work displayed that under different environmental conditions, different traits are more advantageous than others. Cain listed successful people who were more reserved, "Charles Darwin, Marcel Proust and Albert Einstein, and, in contemporary times: think of Google’s Larry Page, or Harry Potter’s creator, J. K. Rowling". ...the very best of them are artists. And artists work best alone ... Not on a committee. Not on a team..." (Cain, 2011).
Anxiety is an unpleasant feeling. When shy children are punished for wrong doing, they develop anxiety, which develops into "pro-social behaviors", and may help them conscientiously. "Shy children are often easier to socialize and more conscientious, according to the developmental psychologist Grazyna Kochanska. By 6 they’re less likely than their peers to cheat or break rules, even when they think they can’t be caught, according to one study. By 7 they’re more likely to be described by their parents as having high levels of moral traits such as empathy", which are important social traits (Cain, 2011).
The definition of shyness defined by Dr. Payne earlier condemns this characteristic as interfering with ones success. However, we can see evidences that shyness in people can sometimes help them focus in a skill that sets them apart from the general body, and it even produces desirable morality.
Citations:
Cain, Susan. "Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic?", The New York Times, June 25, 2011, accessed August 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/opinion/sunday/26shyness.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Carducci, Bernado J. "Breaking the Ice", Psychology Today, June 16, 2008, accessed July 13, 2013,
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/breaking-the-ice/200806/are-we-born-shy.
Payne, Karen. "Understanding and Overcoming Shyness", Caltech Counseling Center, accessed July 25, 2013, http://counseling.caltech.edu/general/InfoandResources/Shyness.