Original 9-item version in Cheek, J.M., & Buss, A.H. (1981). Shyness and sociability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 330-339.
INSTRUCTIONS: Please read each item carefully and decide to what extent it is characteristic of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from the scale printed below. |
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1 = Very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree
2 = Uncharacteristic
3 = Neutral
4 = Characteristic
5 = Very characteristic or true, strongly agree |
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1. I feel tense when I'm with people I don't know well.
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2. I am socially somewhat awkward.
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3. I do not find it difficult to ask other people for information.
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4. I am often uncomfortable at parties and other social functions.
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5. When in a group of people, I have trouble thinking of the right things to talk about.
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6. It does not take me long to overcome my shyness in new situations.
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7. It is hard for me to act natural when I am meeting new people.
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8. I feel nervous when speaking to someone in authority.
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9. I have no doubts about my social competence.
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10. I have trouble looking someone right in the eye.
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11. I feel inhibited in social situations.
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12. I do not find it hard to talk to strangers.
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13. I am more shy with members of the opposite sex.
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Items 3, 6, 9 & 12 are reversed, recode before scoring. (1=5) (2=4) (4=2) (5=1) For college students, mean = 33.3 for men and 32.4 for women, alpha coefficient = .90, 45-day retest reliability = .88, correlation with aggregated ratings of shyness by friends and family = .68, and correlation with original 9-item version = .96. This revised scale is copyright 1983, Jonathan M. Cheek. The scale may be used in non-profit educational research without further permission. Cheek, J.M., & Briggs, S.R. (1990). Shyness as a personality trait. In W.R. Crozier (Ed.), Shyness and Embarrassment: Perspectives from Social Psychology (pp. 315 - 337). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cheek, J. M., & Melchior, L.A. (1990). Shyness, self-esteem, and self-consciousness. In H. Leitenberg (Ed.), Handbook of Social and Evaluation Anxiety (pp. 47-82). New York: Plenum Publishing. Leary, M.R. (1991). Social anxiety, shyness, and related Constructs. In Robinson, J.P., Shaver, P.R., & Wrightsman, L.S. (Eds.), Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes (pp. 182-184). San Diego: Academic Press. 20 Item Shyness Scale Click here for a printer friendly version of this scale Cheek, J.M., & Melchior, L.A. (1985). Measuring the Three Components of Shyness. In M.H. Davis & S.L. Franzoi (Co-chairs), Emotion, Personality, and Personal Well-Being II. Symposium conducted at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles.
INSTRUCTIONS: Please read each item carefully and decide to what extent it is characteristic of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from the scale printed below. |
|
1 = very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree
2 = uncharacteristic
3 = neutral
4 = characteristic
5 = very characteristic or true, strongly agree |
____ |
1. I feel tense when I’m with people I don’t know well.
|
____ |
2. During conversations with new acquaintances, I worry about saying something dumb.
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____ |
3. I am socially somewhat awkward.
|
____ |
4. I do not find it difficult to ask other people for information.
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____ |
5. I am often uncomfortable at parties and other social gatherings.
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____ |
6. When in a group of people, I have trouble thinking of the right things to talk about.
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____ |
7. I feel relaxed even in unfamiliar social situations
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____ |
8. It is hard for me to act natural when I am meeting new people.
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____ |
9. I feel painfully self-conscious when I am around strangers.
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10. I am confident about my social skills.
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11. I feel nervous when speaking to someone in authority.
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12. I have trouble looking someone right in the eye.
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13. I am usually a person who initiates conversation.
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14. I often have doubts about whether other people like to be with me.
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15. Sometimes being introduced to new people makes me feel physically upset (for example, having an upset stomach, pounding heart, sweaty palms, or heat rash).
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16. I do not find it hard to talk to strangers.
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17. I worry about how well I will get along with new acquaintances.
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18. I am shy when meeting someone of the opposite sex.
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19. It does not take me long to overcome my shyness in a new situation.
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20. I feel inhibited in social situations.
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Items 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, & 19 are reversed, recode before scoring. (1=5) (2=4) (4=2) (5=1) In the scale revision/construction sample of 326 college students the alpha coefficient of internal consistency reliability for the 20-item shyness scales was .94 (M = 51.8; SD = 13.6) and it correlated .96 with the original Cheek & Buss 9-item shyness scale. Melchior and Cheek (1990) reported that in a sample of 31 college women the 20-item scale had a 45-day test-retest reliability of .91, and correlated .69 with aggregated ratings of shyness received from family members and close friends. Cheek, J.M., & Krasnoperova, E.N. (1999). Varieties of shyness in adolescence and adulthood. In L.A. Schmidt & J. Schulkin (Eds.), Extreme Fear, Shyness, and Social Phobia: Origins, Biological Mechanisms, and Clinical Outcomes (pp. 224-250). New York: Oxford University Press. Melchior, L.A., & Cheek, J.M. (1990). Shyness and anxious self-preoccupation during a social interaction. In M. Booth-Butterfield (Ed.), Communication, cognition, and anxiety (Special issue). Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 5, 117- 130. (Reprinted by Sage in book form, 1991)
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