UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item Public and Private Self-Consciousness During Early Adolescence(2005-04-27) Wojslawowicz, Julie Catherine; Rubin, Kenneth H; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The associations between two types of self-consciousness (public and private) and indices of psychosocial distress (e.g., depression, anxiety) have been well-documented in the adult personality literature. However, little is known about these types of self-consciousness during early adolescence in spite of recent evidence that self-conscious thoughts and feelings peak during the early adolescent developmental period. The present study explored the distinction between public and private self-consciousness during early adolescence by examining the psychosocial correlates of public and private self-consciousness while considering the distinction between (public) self-conscious and fearful shyness. Friendship quality was examined as a possible moderator of the relation between self-consciousness and maladjustment. Early adolescents' (N=137, 87 girls; M age= 13.98 years) reported on their self-consciousness, internalizing problems, shyness, fearfulness, and the qualities of their best friendships. Results confirmed the existence of the two different types of self-consciousness during early adolescence. However, findings indicated greater similarities than differences in the psychosocial correlates of private and public self-consciousness, suggesting that the distinction between these two types of self-directed attention may still be developing during adolescence. Contrary to expectations, evidence revealed that intimate friendship qualities may exacerbate the difficulties associated with self-consciousness. Few adolescents were able to be identified as (public) self-consciously or fearfully shy, calling into question the meaningfulness of the distinction between these two different types of problematic shyness during early adolescence. Findings from the present study highlight the importance of considering the role of self-consciousness in internalizing problems and shyness. Results pertaining to friendship quality add to the growing literature on the "dark side" of friendships.Item Differentiating Social Phobia from Shyness(2004-11-22) Heiser, Nancy; Turner, Samuel M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the boundaries of social phobia and the nature of shyness. Despite the similarities between social phobia and shyness, the vast majority of shy persons do not meet diagnostic criteria for social phobia. Conversely, most persons with social phobia, specifically the generalized subtype, are shy. This study sought to identify factors that delineate generalized social phobia from shyness. Methods: Of the 78 participants, 25 were shy with social phobia, 26 were shy without social phobia, and 27 were not shy. The groups were compared on self-reported symptomatology and indicators of functioning. Social skills were assessed via unstructured social interactions and an impromptu speech task during which heart rate and skin conductance were monitored. Performance and anxiety were rated by participants and independent observers. Results: All symptoms were more prevalent among the shy with social phobia than the shy without social phobia. Almost 40% of the shy without social phobia did not endorse social fears per se, even though they reported high levels of shyness. Those with social phobia reported higher levels of impairment and lower levels of quality of life compared to the shy without social phobia. Both the shy and social phobia groups reported similar levels of anticipatory anxiety prior to the social tasks; however, the social phobia group reported relatively elevated levels of anxiety during the social tasks. Those with social phobia demonstrated social skills deficits across tasks, whereas the shy did so only in the unstructured social tasks. Both groups underestimated their effectiveness during the speech relative to independent observers. None of the three groups differed on the physiological measures. Conclusions: The findings indicated that shyness is a broader construct than social phobia. Some subsets of the shy group appeared to be more qualitatively similar to the social phobia group than others. Those with social phobia appeared to experience more anxiety and exhibit more social skills deficits during the social interactions than the shy without social phobia, which may account for the higher levels of impairment they reported. The results are discussed in the context of current theoretical models of social phobia.