Variable Details
Available Studies
MAP, LATC
Categories
Affect and Personality
Shyness
Harm avoidance subscale: Shyness - Sum of 8 items
This variable is only available in MAP and LATC.
Shyness is measured using the 8-item shyness subscale of the Harm Avoidance scale. The Harm Avoidance scale comes from the Temperament and Character Inventory which consists of four subscales: anticipatory worry, fear of uncertainty, shyness, and fatigability.
Participants are asked to respond true/mostly true or false/mostly false to each item. The score for this subscale ranges from 0 to 8 and is the number of item responses indicative of the trait. Higher scores indicate more shyness.
Participants are presented the following items:
| Item no. | Item | Coding |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I often avoid meeting strangers because I lack confidence with people I do not know. | True = 1 |
| 2 | When I have to meet a group of strangers, I am more shy than most people. | True = 1 |
| 3 | I usually stay away from social situations where I would have to meet strangers, even if I am assured that they will be friendly. | True = 1 |
| 4 | I would probably stay relaxed and outgoing when meeting a group of strangers, even if I were told they were unfriendly. | False = 1 |
| 5 | It is easy for me to organize my thoughts while talking to someone. | False = 1 |
| 6 | I feel very confident and sure of myself in almost all social situations. | False = 1 |
| 7 | I am not shy with strangers at all. | False = 1 |
| 8 | I think I would stay confident and relaxed when meeting strangers, even if I were told they were angry with me. | False = 1 |
Reponse choices for each item:
| Coding | Response |
|---|---|
| True | True/mostly true |
| False | False/mostly false |
Note: The subscale is calculated if at least 75% of the items are non-missing. Missing values (when less than 25%) are assigned the average item score of the non-missing items.