Shyness
A lot of times we always want to do things that we consider fun. But something in us makes us hesitant right at the last minute. A lot of times in our lives we withdraw ourselves from situations that we consider unnecessary. Or maybe its something else? Maybe its something we really don’t want to admit. The feeling of being judged or perceived by how people may look at us.
Our self-respect and self-dignity overpower us from having a good time in our lives. We feel we have so much to lose and so resort to the old safe ways of staying in the shadows. People may even start considering you as a person who may be reserved, introverted or doesn’t enjoy company. But what do they know huh? Some of us are just too shy to even clear their doubts.
There are so many reasons as to why we are shy, here are a few.
Genes and stressed out parents play a huge role in the shy factor in kids !!
Genes and stressed out parents play a huge role in the shy factor in kids !!
No one is blaming the parents here, but the fact is children shouldn’t be blamed either. Sometimes stress levels in parents can also play a huge role in the shyness factor in kids. Researchers found that kids who are consistently shy when growing up are probably raised by stressed-out parents and also possess a genetic variant associated with stress sensitivity.
According to a researcher, shyness is related to the environment between genes and the environment as opposed to either genes or the environment acting alone. Mothers who reported being stressed are likely to act differently towards their kids than mothers who reported less stress.
Studies found that kids who have a stress-sensitive variant of a serotonin-related gene are more likely to appear shy while growing up when and can also increase when they’re raised by mothers with high levels of stress.
Like all genes, the gene is comprised of a short and long allele(alternate but similar gene). The protein produced by the shorter gene is what is responsible for contributing to levels of stress sensitivity.
The researcher put out 2 cases to get a better picture of how the genes contributing to a child’s shyness worked -
- • If a child has 2 alternate forms of the same gene, and the mother isn’t always stressed then the child will be no more shy than his/her classmates as that of the typical school-age child.
- • But if stress levels are involved with the mother, and if you have the gene that is sensitive towards the stress, chances are that the child may feel heightened senses of fearfulness, anxiety, and depression.
The study was carried out Nathan Fox, a professor, and director of the Child Development Laboratory.
Is Shyness actually hereditary !!
Is Shyness actually hereditary !!
Shy people usually like to keep to themselves as they find it more peaceful than getting involved in something that could easily grab attention. They feel uncomfortable at the thought of how they may be perceived by someone else watching them. They feel that others may consider them weird, stupid or even strange which could withdraw them from doing anything.
Researchers found that shy people inherited the shyness trait from their parents. In the case of shy parents, the shyness element is transferred directly to the child making them experience the same feelings of the parents.
- • Similarities in the brain activity – Individuals who had extremely shy parents are likely to experience similar symptoms. A researcher showed that brain activity during an attack of extreme shyness is hereditary and is related to social anxiety. Clear similarities could also be seen in the brain activity of family members who suffered from extreme shyness.
- • Triggering shyness - Researchers gathered volunteers who had social phobia. Before the EEG scans were made, volunteers were told that a photo of each of them would be judged by someone form their age group. Next, they were instructed t make a film that talked about their good and bad characteristics which would again be judged by someone of their age.
- • Cortical and Sub-cortical areas - Thing is the judgment by the peers never took place whereas the statement alone raised the stress level of the volunteers significantly. This could clearly be seen as there was a raised level of activity between the cortical(regulates control) and subcortical(regulates emotion) areas in the participants with social anxiety.
- • Copycat Behavior – Unlike genes that determine an individual’s behavior, these were literally copycat similarities that the individual inherited from their parents. This alone showed that a child of extremely shy parents could learn this particular behavior and even display this at some point in their lives.
The study was carried out by Anita Harrewjin from the University of Leiden.
The more shy you are, the more you use Social Media !!
The more shy you are, the more you use Social Media !!
In an online world, posting a picture of your life once in a while can let others know that you’ve logged on after a long time. This is what people might be assuming. Now do this for 365 days in a year and people would consider you to likely be a really active Facebook user. But guess what, there is a third kind- The silent Facebook users. It may be hard to believe that these guys probably use Social media more than any person in the world. Silently, stealthily, just scrolling through the things what other put up. And not making a sound.
According to one researcher, shy people spend more time on Facebook but disclose very less information. For an introvert, using the site doesn’t necessarily mean that there are always posting something online. They spend more time than the extroverts do, it's just that they prefer being discreet. In fact,t Shy and lonely people spend more time on Facebook just to pass the time.
Language Fluency isn’t the reason, Shy kids just speak Less !!
Language Fluency isn’t the reason, Shy kids just speak Less !!
Researchers found out that previous researches suggested that shy children had more difficulties in communicating in a language that they weren't completely fluent in. However,r that theory was debugged. Cos researchers found out that certain kids were just more self-conscious about their behavior and tended to speak less but could fully understand what was being said just like their less shy counterparts.
In other wor,d these children only have communication problems when speaking with others but that didn’t mean that they lacked the capability to understand what was being said. Instead,d they were just more reluctant to respond and preferred being silent.
Researchers concluded that inhibited behaviors like shyness didn’t interfere with their language acquisition overall but instead the behavior was associated with how young children chose to express their feeling through words.
According to the researchers, Some children may need help in developing their speaking abilities. These children can benefit from interventions like-
- • Target confidence
- • Social Competence
- • Autonomy to support the development of expressive language.
The research was carried out by Ashley K.Smith Watts, a graduate student and Soo H.Rhee, associate professor of psychology from the University of Colorado.
Step out of the Shyness Shell !!
Step out of the Shell of Shyness !!
People have their own rights to enjoy life they way they choose to enjoy, even if it may be weird to others -like preferring to be little distant, alone or maybe even silent. While none of it is wrong, do realize that some of these factors do not necessarily brighten your life.
Do not let the feeling of how you would be judged by others stop you from living your life. If you really enjoy dancing, just dance anyway, if you like singing forget about the fact that you don’t know the lyrics really well, well you can always resort to humming the tune too you know.
Point is shyness isn’t wrong but don’t let shyness be the reason to stop you from cherishing certain happy moments of your life.