ATTRIBUTIONS OF SHY AND NOT-SHY GROUP MEMBERS FOR COLLECTIVE GROUP-PERFORMANCE

The current study sought to extend research on shyness from a focus on individuals and dyadic interactions to the role of shyness in small d ecision-making groups by examining attributions for group performance by shy and not-shy persons and the affect experienced as a result of p erformance feedback. Seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to small groups and completed a decision-making task. When given perfo rmance feedback not-shy participants made group-serving attributions a nd experienced more positive affect following group success than failu re. Shy participants minimized their responsibility for both group suc cess and failure, attributed the cause of success equally between the group and the situation, and attributed the cause of failure to the gr oup itself: Shy participants' affect did not vary as a result of the p erformance feedback Shy persons, based on their self-reports, appeared to isolate themselves within the group, attending to group interactio ns but withholding ideas and not fully participating.