Emotions, Everyday Life and Sociology by Michael Hviid Jacobsen

Author:Michael Hviid Jacobsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

8 Shyness

Self-consciously perceived relative social incompetence

Susie Scott

Introduction

Shyness is often assumed to be an individual characteristic – a personality trait, affective state or cognitive style – and as such, has mainly been studied by psychologists. Here, it has been attributed to various causes, including biologically innate temperaments (Kagan 1994), genetics (Hamer and Copeland 1998), patterns of social cognition (Clark 2001; Crozier 2001) and communicative styles (Mills and Rubin 1993), which create inherent differences between ‘shy’ and ‘non-shy’ populations. This approach shapes common sense understandings of shyness as a relatively unusual condition afflicting a minority of people. We think of shyness as an individual problem, neglecting the wider sociocultural context in which it is embedded.

However, sociology can contribute to our understanding of shyness as a self-conscious emotion that arises in certain types of social situation. This means that anybody can feel shy under certain conditions, and it is a relatively normal and common experience. Using the perspectives of symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969) and dramaturgy (Goffman 1959), I argue that shyness is a property of social interaction rather than individual minds, which emerges from people’s mutual (mis-)perceptions in everyday encounters. I define shyness as a feeling of perceived relative incompetence at managing social situations and presenting oneself appropriately, which evokes a fear of social judgment. We feel shy when we doubt our ability to give an expected role performance, especially when ‘everybody else’ appears more competent than ourselves, and so dread making an embarrassing mistake.

Shyness can be considered a normal, intelligible and communicatively rational response to situations of dramaturgical stress (Scott 2005, 2007). It makes absolute sense to be concerned about creating a socially desirable impression, and to be aware of the potential consequences of failure; far from indicating an individual pathology, this suggests normative motives of social conformity. Consequently, shyness varies situationally: people may feel shy in some situations but not in others, depending on their level of perceived relative incompetence. Few people describe themselves as ‘true blue shys’, who experience the feeling most of the time and on most social occasions (Zimbardo 1977). It is much more common for people to ‘drift’ (Matza 1964) in and out of shyness as a situational state, behaving variously and inconsistently according to interactional contingencies.

Nevertheless, over time, some individuals who recurrently experience shyness may come to think of themselves as a ‘shy person’, which becomes part of their self-identity. This is partly because of the social reactions they encounter when they present and conduct themselves in certain ways. Shy behaviours, such as avoiding eye contact or not talking in conversation, break some of the normative rules and taken-for-granted assumptions about everyday interaction. Consequently, shyness is regarded as deviant: often misperceived as rudeness or aloofness, it evokes reactions of teasing, impatience and moral indignation.

Living with shyness is not just a matter of passive suffering, however. Those who develop this social identity learn how to actively manage it in everyday life. This involves carefully rehearsed techniques and strategies of dramaturgical self-presentation, which ironically demonstrate high levels of skill and competence.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.