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Are shy people reluctant to ask for help?
B M DePaulo1, W R Dull, J M Greenberg
1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903-2477.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|May 1, 1989
Summary
Shy individuals seek help less often from opposite-sex strangers, especially when communication is less fluent. This impacts help-seeking behavior and task completion in social interactions.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Help-seeking is a crucial social behavior.
- Individual differences, such as shyness, can influence social interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how shyness affects help-seeking behaviors in men and women.
- To examine the role of gender and interaction partner in help-seeking.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: Participants completed an impossible task with same-sex or opposite-sex confederates.
- Study 2: Participants solicited questionnaire completion from same-sex or opposite-sex respondents via phone.
Main Results:
- Shy individuals sought help less from opposite-sex confederates than same-sex confederates.
- Shy individuals had lower response rates when soliciting help from opposite-sex respondents.
- Shyness was associated with less warm, confident, and fluent communication, which predicted lower response rates.
Conclusions:
- Shyness significantly impacts help-seeking, particularly in opposite-sex interactions.
- Communication quality, influenced by shyness, plays a key role in the success of help-seeking behaviors.