Assessment of Shyness among Young Adults and Its Relationship with Psychological Well-Being

The present study reports the extent of relationship between shyness and psychological well- being among young adults in and around Mysore city. A total of 180 young adults studying in various colleges of Mysore city were selected for the present study. They were administered Shyness Assessment Test (D’Souza, 2006) and psychological well-being scale (Ryff, 1989) in one setting. Shyness of young adult was measured in 3 domains-cognitive/affective, physiological and action oriented domains of shyness including total shyness. The psychological wellbeing of an young adult was measured in six areas- autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, and purpose in life, and self-acceptance. The data analysis was done through chi-square tests and Pearson’s product moment correlation. Results revealed that Majority of the young adults were in medium levels of shyness in all the domains of shyness of Cognitive/affective, Physiological, Action oriented and in total shyness. Comparatively more of young adults expressed higher levels of shyness than in Cognitive/affective and Physiological domains. Higher the psychological wellbeing in Positive relations with others, self-acceptance and total psychological wellbeing, lower was the shyness among young adults. Strategies for decreasing shyness and increasing psychological wellbeing have been delineated.