Attributions of shyness-resembling behaviors by shy and non-shy individuals

Shy and non-shy individuals' attributions of shyness-resembling behaviors i n scenarios involving either themselves or other, hypothetical, people were studied through the use of a questionnaire. The participants were Swedish high-school students who rated the extent to which a number of such behavio rs could be explained by four different causes, two internal (shyness and l ack of interest) and two external (other persons and situational circumstan ces) causes. The results showed that shy participants attributed their own shyness-resembling behaviors to internal causes to a higher degree than did non-shy participants. Furthermore, non-shy participants attributed their o wn behaviors to external rather than internal causes, whereas shy participa nts judged internal and external causes to be about equally good explanatio ns of their own behaviors. Both shy and non-shy participants attributed oth er people's behaviors to internal rather than external causes. The differen ces between shy and non-shy participants were discussed in terms of differe nces in focus of attention, meaning that shy individuals seem to be much mo re self-focused than non-shy ones. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All right s reserved.