know (Cheek & Buss, 1981; Kashdan & Roberts, 2006). They are very con-
cerned about what others will think of them and become self-conscious whenthey meet new people or have to talk in front of an audience. Quite often, so-
cially anxious people think about what they are doing wrong, how stupid they
must sound, and how foolish they must look (Bruch, Hamer, & Heimberg,
1995; Ickes, Robertson, Tooke, & Teng, 1986; Ritts & Patterson, 1996). Shy
people often stumble over their words, say the wrong thing, and show outward
signs of nervousness, such as perspiration and shakiness. These feelings of awk-wardness are not merely in the minds of socially anxious people. The people
they interact with also identify shy people as more tense, inhibited, and un-
friendly than nonshy people (Cheek & Buss, 1981; Papsdorf & Alden, 1998).Conversations with socially anxious individuals are less pleasant than when
speaking with nonanxious people (Heery & Kring, 2007). Shy people are more
likely than most to feel ashamed or embarrassed about what they say or do insocial situations. This is probably why shy people also are more likely than non-
shys to blush (Leary & Meadows, 1991). Shy people sometimes report they are
so self-conscious and nervous during a social encounter that they cannot thinkof anything to say. They may allow the conversation to fall into silence, which
can be extremely uncomfortable for someone already suffering from social anx-
iety (Pilkonis, 1977b).
As noted earlier, shy people are not introverts. Rather, most would like
to have a larger network of friends than they do. In particular, shy people of-ten say that they would like more people they could turn to when they need
help. Unfortunately, their shyness can keep them from developing more
friends or asking the friends they have for help when they are in need. One
study found that shy students were less likely than nonshy students to talk to
a counselor about career advice (Phillips & Bruch, 1988). Researchers in an-
other study deliberately asked people to work on a task that could not be
completed without asking another participant for assistance (DePaulo, Dull,Greenberg, & Swaim, 1989). Nonetheless, the socially anxious people were
more reluctant than the other participants to ask a nearby person for help.
Not only do socially anxious people fear that others will think poorly of
them, they often assume incorrectly that other people simply are not interestedin getting to know them (Wenzel & Emerson, 2009). Perhaps this is why shy
individuals also tend to interpret the feedback they get from other people in anegative light (Amir, Beard, & Bower, 2005; Ledley & Heimberg, 2006). This
self-defeating tendency was demonstrated in a study in which college students
were asked to work on a series of tasks with other participants (DePaulo,Kenny, Hoover, Webb, & Oliver, 1987). When later asked what they believed
the other students thought of them, the socially anxious students felt they were
less liked and had come across as less competent than did the nonanxious par-ticipants. Participants in another experiment carried on what they believed to
be a two-way discussion via a television hook-up (Pozo, Carver, Wellens, &
Scheier, 1991). In reality, all participants watched a prerecorded videotape ofa confederate posing as a participant. Although the feedback was identical, so-
cially anxious people were more likely than nonanxious participants to inter-
pret the other person ’s facial expressions as indicating disapproval.Social Anxiety 201