Assessment of Shyness And Its Management Among Young Nigerians

This study investigated psychological factors associated with shyness as well as determining the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in the management of shyness. The aim was achieved in two interrelated studies using 800 participants. The first study was the development and validation of a shyness scale (SS-34). The results show that SS-34, apart from being a reliable and valid measure of shyness, is made up of ten independent factors that underlie shyness. The second study investigated the psychological factors associated with shyness as well as determining the efficacy of CBT in the management of shyness among Nigerian adolescents. It was discovered that gender has no significant influence on the manifestation of shyness. The results also show that shyness increases and peaks at late adolescence and begin to drop thereafter, that educational attainment does not necessarily lead to a reduction in shyness, that highly shy individuals exhibit more irrational beliefs, psychological distress and lack of self-confidence. Finally, CBT was found to be efficacious in the management of shyness.