Or the thought of giving a presentation in front of a room full of people make you feel physically sick? Akindele Michael was a shy kid. His parents, incidentally, are not shy. He believes that his sheltered upbringing is linked to his shyness — but is he right?
Most of what we know about the genetics of shyness comes from studies that compare shyness in identical twins — who are perfect genetic copies of each other — with non-identical twins, who only share about half of the same genes. In the last decade or so, scientists like Eley have started to look at DNA itself to try and find genetic variants that might have an effect on personality and mental health.
Each individual genetic variant only has a tiny effect, but when you look at thousands in combination, the impact starts to be more noticeable. So the environment is almost more important for developing these sorts of traits, she says. And one of the interesting things about genetics is that it drives us to extract aspects of the environment that match our actual predispositions.
For example, a shy child may be more likely to isolate themselves in a playground and watch everybody else rather than engaging. That then makes them feel more comfortable being on their own because that becomes their common experience. And because of that, you can always change it through psychological therapies that can teach you techniques to cope. A shy child may be more likely to isolate themselves in a playground - and feel more comfortable being on their own Credit: Getty Images.
It might be not being able to talk to people at work, difficulties socialising or being in a situation where they feel they're going to be judged or evaluated by other people. She says that cognitive behavioural therapy CBT is the most effective psychological therapy for people who have shyness and social anxiety.
This evidence-based therapy works by trying to change your thought and behaviour patterns. Focusing on the people in the room rather than whether you're speaking correctly can help calm public speaking nerves, experts say Credit: Getty Images. Sometimes the problem is that people who struggle with something like public speaking due to shyness often set themselves very high standards for how they should perform in such a situation, she explains.
There is not one specific cause, but rather a combination of different factors that may influence a person's tendency to be shy.
Shyness can be caused by a combination of nature and nuture, and can change as a person grows older and experiences new things. Moreover, people may not remain shy all their lives ; it is possible to go through phases of shyness and periods in one's life where one's self-confidence may rise or fall. Some of the most common causes of shyness include experiencing harsh treatment, having faulty self-perception and life transitions that may be hard to handle, such as divorce, a new job, going away to school, etc.
Although there is no 'shy gene', very young children can start exhibiting symptoms of shyness - even from the age of two. Babies may even appear to have a shy temperament that may become more obvious as they grow older.
To be shy, you need to be conscious of yourself. Shyness is related to self-consciousness so we normally relate shyness to children who are able to identify themselves as distinct entities. However, a tendency to be shy from a young age does not doom a person to a life of social hostility. It also depends a lot on a person's upbringing and life experiences. One key aspect that has been widely noted is that shyness is very often linked to fear. Children who are fearful are much more likely to be shy as opposed to less fearful children.
Shyness is often described as being uncomfortable in social situations, especially when coming into contact with new people. A key reason why a person may feel uncomfortable in a social setting is that they may be heavily self-critical of their behaviour and how it will be understood.
They are apprehensive about the reaction they will receive from others, even to the extent of panic. Shy people tend to focus on what they feel they do wrong and they may allow negative past experiences to affect a present situation. For a shy person, shyness may be like a constant voice in their head, telling them to be anxious about new situations, because they believe they are likely to fare badly.
Shy people may also attribute any perceived social failure as having to do with something wrong with themselves. Shyness may also develop from a child's relationship with a parent normally of the same sex who may have been anxious, rejecting, critical or restrictive. Studies have shown that there are physiological and neurological differences in shy and non-shy preschoolers in the way that they process emotion. EEG monitoring systems measured significantly more brain activity in the right anterior part of the brain in the shy children when showed video clips that depicted fear and sadness, compared to the non-shy children.
Shyness is a state that is often difficult to watch in others, even harder to experience and quite confusing to explain. But like all children, what they need most is love and understanding. Get expert tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. Cain S. Broadway Books. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFamily.
At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.
We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. How to Help Kids Make Friends. Coping Strategies for Kids. Tips for Parenting an Introvert. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback!
Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Family uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Related Articles.
0コメント