Incidence of Shyness in Elementary-School Age Children

In a survey of 396 elementary-aged children, 38% labeled themselves shy, 59% responded that they would rather be less shy, 46% felt that being shy was a personal problem, and 47% wanted to participate in a counseling group to ameliorate this problem Sex differences were found; approximately one-quarter of all boys (26%) and one-half of all girls (49%) applied this label to themselves. This finding differs from surveys of adults for whom no sex differences in shyness were noted.