RELATIONS OF SHYNESS AND LOW SOCIABILITY TO REGULATION AND EMOTIONALITY

The relations of shyness and low sociability (i.e., the nonfearful pre ference to be alone) to measures of regulation and emotionality were e xamined. College students and (for some variables) friends reported on their relevant dispositional characteristics. In general, shyness was associated with low regulation and high negative emotionality (includ ing intensity, negative affectivity, and personal distress). low posit ive affect, and low constructive coping. In contrast, low sociability was unrelated to negative emotionality; associated with low positive e motional intensity, low physiological reactivity, and high inhibition control; and correlated with low seeking of social support as a means of coping. The findings are considered within a heuristic model in whi ch emotional reactivity and regulation are proposed as predictors of s ocial responding.