focused and socially withdrawn. Not surprisingly, shyness and social anxiety tend to be 
associated with both of these personality styles (Briggs 1988). Recently, researchers have 
started to use molecular genetics studies to identify speciﬁc genes that may contribute 
to traits such as introversion (Stein, Schork, and Gelernter 2004).
If genetics does play a role in causing social anxiety, does that mean that social 
anxiety cannot be changed? Not at all. Our genetic makeup affects just about every 
aspect of who we are, including physical ﬁtness, academic ability, depression, weight, 
personality, and even our interests and hobbies. Yet we all know that our behavior and 
experiences still play an important role in determining our behavior and performance in 
these various domains.
For example, regardless of whether you are genetically predisposed to be athletic, 
training hard will improve your athletic ability. Furthermore, the environment (for 
example, the exercise habits that you learn while growing up) may have a profound effect 
on whether you exercise regularly as an adult. Still, there are differences between people 
with respect to how hard they must train to become physically ﬁt. For some people, it 
comes easier than for others—in part, because of their genetic makeup.
The same reasoning holds true for social anxiety. A genetic predisposition to have 
high levels of social anxiety and shyness simply means that you may have to work harder 
at overcoming the problem than someone who doesn’t have such a tendency.