Latent profiles of children's shyness: Behavioral, affective, and physiological components

Shyness can manifest on behavioral, affective, and physiological levels, but little is known about how these components cluster. We coded behavioral expressions of avoidance/inhibition, collected self-reported nervousness, and measured cardiac vagal withdrawal in 152 children (M-age = 7.82 years, 73 girls, 82% White) to a speech task in 2018-2021. A latent profile analysis using these behavioral, affective, and physiological indicators revealed four profiles: average reactive (43%), lower affective reactive (20%), higher affective reactive (26%), and consistently higher reactive (11%). Membership in the higher reactive profile predicted higher parent-reported temperamental shyness across 2 years. Findings provide empirical support for the long-theorized idea that shyness might exist as an emotional state but also represents a distinct temperamental quality for some children.

Automated summary

The study found that shyness can manifest on behavioral, affective, and physiological levels, and identified four profiles of shyness in children. Membership in the higher reactive profile predicted higher parent-reported temperamental shyness across 2 years. These findings provide empirical support for the idea that shyness exists as both an emotional state and a distinct temperamental quality for some children.