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Adolescent Shyness

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Shyness

Abstract

The transition from childhood to adolescence involves many dramatic changes. Adolescents must contend with three major sources of novelty: the bodily changes of puberty, the new cognitive abilities of formal operations, and new demands and opportunities caused by changing social roles and relationships (e.g., Damon, 1983). As Buss (1980) has noted, the most prominent cause of shyness is novelty. Thus, it is not surprising that early adolescence is the time of greatest shyness in the course of personality and social development (Zimbardo, 1977). In this chapter we review research findings and theoretical formulations on adolescent shyness and also present some of our own data. We begin by examining studies on the prevalence of shyness; then we will consider the issues of the stability of shyness, gender differences, and implications for treatment.

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© 1986 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Cheek, J.M., Carpentieri, A.M., Smith, T.G., Rierdan, J., Koff, E. (1986). Adolescent Shyness. In: Jones, W.H., Cheek, J.M., Briggs, S.R. (eds) Shyness. Emotions, Personality, and Psychotherapy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0525-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0525-3_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0527-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0525-3

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