Shyness, Self-Construal, Extraversion–Introversion, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism

Abstract

Shyness is considered as a universal phenomenon and its prevalence rates vary across cultures. This study aimed at comparing the level of shyness, self-construal, and personality traits of extraversion, introversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism among the college students from India, the host country, Africa; Iran; and Maldives, and Tibetan refugees in India (TRI), studying in different colleges at Mysore, India. Two hundred students (100 men and 100 women), age ranging from 17 to 30 years, were recruited based on stratified random sampling and were administered the Henderson/Zimbardo Shyness Questionnaire, Fernandez Scale of Independent–Interdependent Self-Construal, and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire–Revised. The results showed that shyness was significantly correlated with high introversion and high neuroticism scores. The results also showed that level of shyness varies significantly across different cultural groups and students from Maldives showed highest level of shyness whereas Iranian students had the lowest level of shyness. Although there was no significant gender difference, TRI males and Maldivian females had higher scores on shyness. Faith Orientation did not differentiate the prevalence of shyness among students of the different cultural groups. Shyness may be influenced by the culture from which one hails, and its level may vary depending on the nurturance.