Are shy people reluctant to ask for help?
Examined the help-seeking behaviors of shy and not-shy men and women. In Study 1, Ss worked on an impossible task in the presence of a male or female confederate whom they were told had just successfully completed the task. Shy Ss asked for help no less frequently than did not-shy Ss overall, but they did seek help less frequently from opposite-sex confederates than from same-sex confederates. In Study 2, shy and not-shy men and women were required to call a man and a woman and ask them to complete a questionnaire. All respondents agreed to return the questionnaire. However, when shy Ss (compared with not-shy Ss) called opposite-sex respondents, fewer of the questionnaires were actually returned. When making their calls, shy Ss sounded somewhat less warm and confident than did not-shy Ss, and they also spoke less fluently. Fluency, in turn, predicted response rate for the shy subjects calling respondents of the opposite sex.
DePaulo
B M
BM
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903-2477.
Dull
W R
WR
Greenberg
J M
JM
Swaim
G W
GW
D000328:Adult; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007439:Introversion, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010556:Personality Tests; D012792:Shyness