THE ROLE OF SHYNESS AND PRIVATE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS IN IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT

The present study, drawing on Marcia's (1966) model of ego identity development and Buss' (1980) theory of shyness and self-consciousness, tested the hypotheses that shyness inhibits identity development, whereas private self-consciousness facilitates identity development. Results indicated that shyness was positively associated with identity diffusion and negatively associated with identity achievement, whereas private self-consciousness was negatively associated with identity foreclosure. These relationships were obtained after controlling for the influence of attachment to parents, peer social support, and gender on identity development. These findings suggest that shyness may be associated with impaired psychosocial development in late adolescence, an outcome which may in turn have developmental consequences over the course of a lifetime. (C) 1994 Academic Pres, Inc.