Shyness and academic adjustment in Chinese high school students: The mediating role of self-focused attention model

Current Psychology volume 39, pages1–10(2020)Cite this article

Abstract

This study examined the influence of self-focused attention (rumination and reflection) on the relationship between shyness and academic adjustment in a Chinese adolescent sample. Seven hundred and six senior high school students (383 girls, 323 boys; 231 grade one, 238 grade two, 237 grade three) from two Chinese public secondary schools completed anonymous questionnaires regarding shyness, self-focused attention, and academic adjustment. Results indicated that 1) shyness was negatively related to academic adjustment; 2) rumination mediated the association between shyness and academic adjustment; 3) the mediating role of reflection was not significant. These findings demonstrated the contribution of rumination to the academic adjustment of timid students. Shy students in high school tend to adopt rumination model rather than a reflection model in their daily academic life, and this approach may harm their academic adjustment.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by project of National Social Science Foundation of China (13BSH061) and Humanities and Social Sciences Research Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (17YJA190004).

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  1. School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Ji’nan, 250014, Shandong, China

    Liang Li, Fengqiang Gao & Yingmin Chen

  2. Weifang Middle School, Weifang, 261031, Shandong, China

    Xiaoyi Wang

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LL contributed to writing, data analysis, and the design of the work. XW conducted experiments. YC, and FG contributed in polishing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yingmin Chen.

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Li, L., Wang, X., Gao, F. et al. Shyness and academic adjustment in Chinese high school students: The mediating role of self-focused attention model. Curr Psychol 39, 1–10 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00457-w

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Keywords

  • Shyness
  • Rumination
  • Reflection
  • Academic adjustment