SHYNESS, APPEARANCE ANXIETY,

INTERPERSONAL STYLES AND

PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING AMONG
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
INTRODUCTION
 INTRODUCTION
Shyness

Shyness is a difficult term to define. In everyday expression, the term is used to describe
reactions and feelings to social interactions and important facets of a person's character (Crozier,
2000) Although shyness is a term commonly used to interpret behavior, its widespread use
means that precise meaning is often lacking, shyness is a label that is often applied but not so
clearly understood. Indeed some psychologists are not even convinced that shyness is anything
more than a common language label used to define an aspect of personality (Crozier, 2000).

Shyness is something that all people experience at one time or another. In most cases it is
normal, temporary behavior. Shyness is common but little understood emotion. Everyone has felt
ambivalence or self-conscious in new social situations. However, when shyness interferes with
optimal social development and restricts life of a person then it becomes a problem a shy child is
anxious or inhibited in unfamiliar situations or interacting with others (Yasmeen, 2005).

Everyone has felt ambivalent or self-conscious in new situation. When these feelings of
ambivalence persist over the period of time and create disturbance and interfere with the social
interactions and then they becomes a problem Shy individuals feel difficulty to develop social
contacts as they have inhibition to interact with others in social gathering (Yasmeen, 2005).
When they feel problems to interact with others they avoid participating in social settings and
this situation creates many problems during studies as well as work settings and eventually they
lose confidence. Mostly children feel uncomfortable in the company of their peers. They only
feel casier to watch the children of their age from outside rather than participating with them
(Yasmeen, 2005)

Shyness has been defined as discomfort and inhibition while in the presence of others.
Shy individuals tend to talk less and be described by others as unfriendly (Check & Buss, 19811.
Shy persons tend to have less satisfactory interpersonal involvements and fewer friends (Jones &
Russell, 1982). Shyness is an emotion that affects how a person feels and behaves among others.
Shyness can mean feeling uncomfortable, self-conscious or insecure Developmental
psychologists have argued shyness may be a behavioral manifestation of earlier childhood
inhibition to novelty (Kagan, Reznick & Smdman, 1988).
 Shyness is a condition that is difficult to categorize, lying on the contested boundaries
between physical health, mental illness and social deviant. On one hand, this is a relatively
normal experience: many individuals identify with episodic feelings of shyness that arise in
certain types of situation. On the other hand, some people identify so strongly with the 'shy label
that they feel constantly anxious, lonely and frustrated, and understand shyness to be a chronic
and debilitating condition that interferes with their everyday lives (Buss, 1999).

In a border sense, shyness can be defined as an enhanced focus on oneself and this
excessive focus usually comprises negative self-evaluation which makes discomfort in their
everyday life and hinders in the achievement of personal and professional goals (Brophy, 1996).
Though all of us experience shyness at one time our but the degree to which we experience it
may vary greatly. In most cases, it is a usual or at the most a temporary behavior. Infect, shyness
is a common but little understood emotion. Everyone feels hesitant or self-conscious in new
social situation. However when shyness interferers with optimal social growth and restricts the
life of a person then it becomes a problem (Hyson & Trieste, 1998).

It is defined as “behavioral involving anxiety and fear of social situations” (Shiner,

2006, p. 3). The relationship of shyness has been seen with anxiety, as anxiety is considered to
be the main constituent of shyness (Rothbart, 2006). However the link between shyness and
anxiety is not yet fully researched and explained (Shiner, 2006). Similarly shyness is considered
as an innate ability of the individual (Henderson & Zimbardo, 2009). It has also been defined as
an excessive self focus, being characterized by negative self assessments which usually bring the
feelings of distress and uneasiness in social settings and it cause hindrance for the person in
achieving his daily life as well as career goals (Henderson, Zimbardo, & Carducci, 1999).

Shyness can be experienced at all of the following levels i.e. at affective level (such as
extreme feelings of nervousness or uneasiness), behavioral level (inability to react
appropriately), and cognitive level (negative thoughts about one’s own self) and at psychological
level such as increased heartbeat, etc. it can be prompted by different situational events.
Introverts, like extroverts, don’t have the fear of facing social situations they like to work alone
or prefer unaccompanied activities. While the shy persons want to be the part of social setting
but they are restricted by their shy behavior because shyness causes uneasiness when the person
is in the social situations (Crozier, 2001).
 The researchers have found that most of the referral s of shyness fulfill the criteria of
generalized social phobia i.e. they generally have trouble in starting conversations in the social
settings and also feel difficulty in maintaining such conversations. Some referrals are also found
to meet the criteria for avoidant personality disorder in which they are over sensitive to be
rejected by the others. Many other disorders are also found to be present as the co-morbid factors
of shyness such as dysthymia, generalized anxiety disorder (having free floating anxiety),
phobias related to specific situations and with specific things and in some cases also have
dependent and paranoid personalities (Henderson & Zimbardo,2001).

Research findings have revealed that the individuals with chronic shyness are usually
not concerned or well informed about their resentment or aggression thus it is not expressed
properly. Hence in the treatment of shyness this is one of the major goals to make the individuals
learn how to express their concealed anger in more constructive and helpful ways (Henderson &
Zimbardo, 2001).

Shyness and related concepts

Leary (1983) is or view that shyness must be restricted to a certain syndrome, the
concurrent behavior of anxiety and other type of inhibited behavior such as hesitation or
awkwardness. Research in shyness has suffered in the way that way that is not a precise term; it
usually refers to the feelings of uncertainty in the novel situations. The shy person feels anxious
and also appears the same to others. Shyness may take the form of hesitation to utter
spontaneously and shy person may become reluctant to express his personal opinions and
responses. So, social anxiety cannot taken as similar to that of shyness rather it can be defined in
a more elaborated manner. On the other side, theories of attribution and trait theories give central
importance 10 the cognitive in understanding the concept of shyness; they are of view that
somatic problems with behavior play a minor role in the shyness (Cheek. & Krasnoperova,
1999).

Two of the main concepts namely behavioral inhibition and social withdrawal seem to
overlap with shyness. Asendorpf (1993) considered shyness and inhibition as distinct forms of
withdrawal, according to them shyness is a form of social withdrawal that appears as a result of
social evaluative concerns usually in the novel settings. Inhibition is another form of withdrawal
characterized by social aloneness in novel settings.

However, withdrawn behavior is the extreme of the dimensions of the introversion or low
sociability characterizing a person who is social aloof rather than the one who is shy in sense of
lacking confidence and making interactions with people. The most observed and consistent
difference that is observed among shy and less shy individuals is obtained on the measures
verbal performance, specifically the timing and frequency of the speech. If comparison is make
among the individuals who are more shy, and those who are less shy, individuals who are
relatively more shy, when met with an unknown person will take a time to be frank and also will
speak only few of the words with the person in front of him 1989: Cheek & Buss. 1981; Pilkonis.
1977).

Shyness and social phobia. The relationship between shyness and social phobia is controversial.
Biedel and Turner (1999) argued that both shyness and social phobia have number of feature that
are common among them. Both are characterized by negative cognitions which include the fear
of being negatively evaluated by other, self-depressing thoughts and self-blaming attributions for
social difficulties, self-focused attention is also silent in both. They argue that social phobia
is different from shyness in a sense it has lower occurrence in the population, it is more
persistent, more pervasive functional impairment and a latter age of onset.
They both are different kinds of concepts. One may experience shyness or any social difficulty in
life without coming to the attention of anyone else, on the other hand if social phobia is taken
into the account; it is a diagnostic category an requires the ability and services of physicians to
make diagnosis. Thus criteria for social phobia have been altered in successive additions of
DSM. It has been characterized as a persistent fear of situations where people might be subject to
scrutiny by others they have fear that their behavior will lead to embarrassment. Hieser, Turner
and Biedel (2002) found out the relationship shyness, social phobia and other psychiatric
disorders. The prevalence of social phobia was significantly higher among shy persons (18%) as
compared with non-shy persons (3%). However majority of people (82%) were not socially
phobic.
Shyness affects the social relationships. Interaction with peers is considered important for
normal social development. Different researches show that social development of children will
be disrupted if they do not interact with 1996).Shyness can be one reason of not making
interactions. Thus shy students are expected to show a slower increase of new peer relations. Shy
students are expected to stick more than non-shy students to their family members and old
friends they are the people to whom they can deal easily, thus they are expected to decrease their
contact with family members and old friends.
Birth order and shyness. Zimbardo (1977) carried out research in order show the effect of
birth order on the shyness showed that there are greater chances be shy the children who single
and also for the first born. These results are also similar 10 those theories of shyness that put
emphasis upon a drive in which an individual has enthusiasm to put an impression on others
which more preferable for them along with the deficiency in the self-belief in their capability to
do so (Leary& Kowalski, 1995). The only and first born children to be more conscious and
attention seeking was just because of the reason of their parents' extra attention given to
them(Zuckerman. 1994).

Social anxiety and shyness. Turner, Biedel and Towmsley (1990) put forward six dimensions of
performance. Among these features included; bodily, thought related, behavioral response, daily
activities, medical annoyance and starting were all taken into account. When these characters arc
taken into account, it shows that in stressful situations, both the individuals who are shy and the
one who is suffering from social anxiety suffered from similar physical symptoms and thought
patterns. They usually exhibit variation public and professional execution. People who do not
mix up with other people and are much snobbish are usually described as shy by both the layman
and professionals. The people with shyness mostly are not considered to have an emotional
disorder. But usually they are socially aloof, not much expressive and also when it became
obligatory to make communications people with shyness can participate in them (Caspi, Elder. &
Ben, 1988).

Theories of shyness
Implicit self-theories. According to these theories, shy individuals may respond in social
situations in the manner that is the mirror of their desires. Implicit self-theories provide an
important information about different behaviors of people from each other. For instance if two
different people are suffering from shyness, their response in any given social situation will be
totally different and it is all because of their different personality traits (Beer, 2002).
According to Beer (2002), the theory mentioned above comprised of both the entity
theorists who are view that personality cannot be changed and also the incremental theorists
whose view is that is liable to change. A person who has sense that shyness can be managed or
change can be socially successful while those with the opposite view to this i.e. shyness are
consistent, can't change socially. All the genetic, environmental and physiological factors are
considered to contribute in the development of shyness; there is no clear cut sign that is thought
to be responsible for shyness. When shy people have internal feelings of uneasiness, it has direct
effect on their external behavior which may include that they may found it difficult to
acknowledge the accomplishment, may suffer from depression and also cannot fully express
themselves in public.

Attributional theories. According to Bruch and Pearl (1995), approach through which a
person shift towards positivity or negativity and also tells about his life experiences is referred to
as his attributional style. It basically consist of three main components including locus of control,
stability and controllability (Russell, 1982).

The ability of the individual to judge an event as it is caused by positive or negative factors
whether its caused by person himself or outside environmental factors, referred to the locus of
control. In the second factor of stability, person may consider the cause of an incidence either to
be fixed; that is it is negative or variable that is it is positive. The degree to which a person has
belief upon his ability to bring either internal or external change is usually referred to as final
component of controllability. Shyness is mostly related to the person's restricted control which is
the negative attributional style, so in shy people causal attributions can't be changed. So
anticipations about negative outcomes are possible (Duncane, McAulev, & Russell. 1992).

Characteristics of Shyness
 The behavioral component of shyness is manifested as behavioral inhibition during social
interactions. Thus, as compared to less shy individuals, shy people are typically characterized as
talking less, making less eye contact, and sitting farther away from others (Cheek & Buss, 1981;
Leary, 1983; Pilkonis, 1977).

Although shy individuals are perceived as less friendly and assertive than others, they are
not usually viewed as negatively as they fear. Shy people remember negative feedback more than
do less socially anxious people, and they remember negative self-descriptions better than
positive self-descriptions They overestimate the likelihood of unpleasantness in social interaction
and are exquisitely sensitive to potential negative reactions in others (Henderson & Zimbardo,
1996), Shyness can vary from mild feelings to moderately uncomfortable in social circumstances
that increase anxiety which create disturbance in the process of socialization of children.

Shyness may be defined experientially as discomfort and/or inhibition in interpersonal

situations that interferes with pursuing one's interpersonal or professional goals. It is a form of
excessive self-focus, a preoccupation with one's thoughts, feelings and physical reactions. It may
vary from mild social awkwardness to totally inhibiting social phobia (Henderson & Zimbardo,
1996). Shyness may be chronic and dispositional, serving as a personality trait that is central in
one's self-definition Situational shyness involves experiencing the symptoms of shyness in
specific social performance situations but not incorporating it into one's self-concept.

Sometime people try to overcome their shyness when they believe that they are incapable
to socialize To understand how self-beliefs shape social behavior, research needs to focus on
perceived control and individual differences in personal characteristics (Bowlby, 1973), If shy
individuals look the learning socialization as a success it may become positive perspective of
shyness.

The basic feeling of shyness is universal, and may evolve as an adaptive mechanism that
is used to help individuals cope with the new situation and new social stimuli. Shyness is felt as a
blend of emotions, fear of interest, tension and pleasantness. Some time it increases heart rate
and blood pressure may also rise. The speech of shy person is mostly soft, and hesitant. Younger
children may suck their thumbs, some smile and pull away (Izard & Hyson, 1986).
Factors affecting shyness.

There have been insufficient research on the exact cause of shyness but accordingly to
some shyness experts, who have studied and researched it well, the probable causes of shyness
are (a) genes making a person prone of shyness, (b) unhealthy attachment between the child and
his parents, (c) inadequately learnt social skills, or (d) the harsh attachment or excessive criticism
by the family members or peers, faced by the child. Shyness causes a person to avoid social
settings in which they have to interact with others and they are thus shy because they are over
conscious about what others might think about them (Butt, Moosa, Ajmal, & Rahman, 2011).

Bullock (as cited in Butt et al. 2011) presented the factors that lead to shyness in children
involve changing school or residential area, loss of friend, facing the parental conflict like
divorce, death of loved one, peer rejection, insufficient learnt social skills, anxiousness and low
self-esteem that ultimately lead to difficulty or trouble in making social ties like friendship etc.
furthermore, it is argued that one’s family and cultural background also plays a role in making
child learn shyness.

Cultural influences on shyness. The cross cultural researches have shown the
universal prevalence of shyness. The participants of different shyness researches belonging to
different cultural backgrounds have reported experiencing shyness to some extent. Cultural
differences play a very important role in developing shyness. Collectivistic cultures promote the
group norms; working in groups and prefer group esteem over the individual esteem, thus it
promotes the individuals to become self-conscious in expressing their thoughts and collectively
according to the group norms, therefore such individuals are more shy then those in the
individualistic cultures which promote the individual esteem thus give more space to them for
self-expression. Also, the cultural differences in taking credits for success and blame for the
failures play a role in shyness as in collectivistic cultures success is usually credited to the whole
group whereas in individualistic culture the individual enjoys the whole credit of the success
alone (Henderson et., 1999).

When shyness is observed across the cultures, it appeared that the collectivistic cultures
usually promote the reserved and restrained behaviors as compared to the individualistic cultures
which are more open and expressive. And due to such hard and inflexible norms of the society,
the social anxiety and shyness is higher in such cultures (Henderson & Zimbardo, 2009).

Shyness, sociability, and conflicted shyness. Shyness and altruism were envisioned as
symmetrical features (Schmidt & Buss, 2010) and suggested that timidity was not just
comparative philanthropy. Shyness indicates social hindrances, while congeniality reflects the
inclination to be with others. Given the relative speculative and trial independence of the two
attributes, it is conceivable to consider an undeniable phenotype, suggested as “affected shyness”
rising out of the joint exertion of timidity and amicability (Schmidt et al., 2006). Staying shyness
reflects how much a man in a social circumstance encounters an engagement of drop.

It is not necessary that shyness have only negative consequences but also it has positive
consequences in some situations e.g., sometime shy children are safe when other make mischief
and getting in troubles. In other words, shyness is useful to some extent but when it is extreme in
nature then it lead to the behavioral problems (Crozier. 2000)

Categories of Shyness

Shyness has been categorized according to the severity of symptoms reported. Zimbardo
(1977) conceptualized shyness in terms of its impact on individuals According to this
perspective, shyness exists on a continuum ranging from situational to chronic shyness.

Situational Shyness. Situational shyness involves experiencing the symptoms of

shyness in specific social performance situations but not incorporating it into one's self-concept
(Henderson & Zimbardo, 1998). They also argued that at the situational end of the continuum are
individuals who do not seek social interaction and prefer to be alone. To the middle of the
continuum are those who feel intimidated and awkward in situations with certain types of people.
At the end of the continuum are those who are chronically shy when their discomfort is strong
enough to disturb their social lives and inhibit their functioning (Zimbardo, 1972)

Chronic Shyness. The most debilitating form of shyness involves a fear of negative
evaluation accompanied by emotional distress or inhibition that interferes significantly with
participation in desired activities and goal-directed behavior (Henderson, 1997) Chronically, shy
individuals experience extreme dread when called on to do something in front of people, and find
it difficult to control their anxiety (Zimbardo, 1977).

Love Shyness. Love shyness is a degree of inhibition and uncommunicativeness with the
opposite sex which sufficiently serves to prohibit the participation in social circle, marriage,
family formation roles. It is usually assumed that those individuals who feel love shyness are
more likely to remain single and never married. It is considered as the deliberate personal choice
of shy individuals (Gillmartin, 1987). Love shyness is believed to be the result of genetic-
biologically rooted temperament and learned experiences with peers and family.

Fearful and Self Conscious Shyness. There are different types of shy children it is
argued that there are at least two types of shyness a fearful shyness, and a self-conscious shyness
Fearful shyness is an early developing form of shyness that emerges during the second half of the
first year of strangers (Buss, 1986).

Different strategies to cope with shyness

Forced extraversion. This is used by persons themselves in order to handle their shyness by their
own in which individuals forced them to go into the public places.

Self-induced cognitive extraversion. It involves the shy individuals having set of thought patterns
including statements which made individuals to curtail obvious fear of public. It also makes them
to change their thinking about themselves and other people.

Educational extraversion. In this strategy, people with shyness give themselves information and
education about their own shyness in order to conquer it. They can, use related books and may
also go to the workshops related to it in order to seek their related information.

Sought professional help. To overcome the shyness, one can also attend the seminars specially
organized by the professionals of mental health. Different therapies suggested by them may
include self-esteem improvement therapy, group therapy and prescriptions medications.

Liquid extraversion. To reduce anxiety in the frightening public situations, shy individual may
use different kinds of non-prescribed drugs along with the alcohol.
Liquid extraversion poses greater danger of over consumption of alcohol. Indeed additional
researches (Carducci & McLeish. 2000) have noted eleven percent of shy individuals are
approved as shy alcoholics. These individuals are of view that drinking gives them courage.

Shy people are sensitive and much anxious about how they are being assessed by others
(Buss, 1986; Cheek & Melchior, 1990). However, developmental psychologists are of different
viewpoint about shyness, Kagan, Reznick, and Snidman (1988) proposed that if children during
their early childhood are being stopped to explore innovatory things, it may lead to shyness.
Some psychologist thought causes behind the shyness to be multidimensional including all
physical, thought and behavioral patterns (Cheek & Melchoir, 1990).

When people are socially reserved in different public situations, this is the behavioral
component of their shyness. Talking less, making no eye contact and also sitting far away from
the gatherings are all the behaviors displayed by the shy people (Cheek & Buss, 1981; Leary,
1983; Pilkonis, 1977). Bodily symptoms that are experienced by the shy individuals may include
increase in cortical levels, changes in autonomic nervous system and stress (Kagan & Snidman,
1991; Kagan, Reznick, Snidman, Gibbons, & Johnson, 1988; Schmidt et al., 1997; Schmidt &
Schulkin, 199). Amusingly, animals and humans also show the same responses when they face
fearful situation (Nader & LeDoux, 1999).

Self-conscious and fearful shyness are two subtypes of shyness. Among which second
subtype that involves individual to not show any response to the unknown people is usually
developed during infancy, and individual keeps himself cut off from others. As for as self-
conscious shyness is taken into account, is that how other people judge them and they are much
sensitive and it is usually developed age of five six years (Buss, 1986).

Miller (1995) also supported this theory because of the results obtained of his study which
also reveals positive relation between shyness and horror of being evaluated by others.

Treatment or shyness

All people feel shyness during some period their life but being shy most time causes
difficulties in daily activities and different relationships. So people may avoid or completely
withdraw social events and performances, having very few friends, think badly about themselves
and also have very hard time meeting people. At this time their treatment becomes necessary
(Ransochoff, 2008). For this purpose there are many strategies that can be used to help these
individuals overcome their shyness. Some strategies can be effective with some individuals than
with other individuals.

Malouff (2004) suggested different techniques that can be tried for at least a month. These
treatments generally include exposure to the feared situations. Other more complicated strategies
that can be used may include behavioral practice in fearful situation, social skills training,
cognitive restructuring for the negative thoughts about one's self and also for others. More other
techniques that are found to be fruitful include paradoxical intention where clients’ deliberately
strengthen feared internal or external responses like blushing and found more control then they
imagined.

Henderson and Zimbardo (1996) also gave Social Fitness Model for treating the shyness.
According to them shyness is the level of social fitness that is not mostly healthy. This model
employs "physical fitness" as symbol for “social fitness". It includes education and training in
positive social behavior.

Appearance Anxiety

Anxiety is a vague fear that we hear without knowing what the end is, including sadness,
distress, fear, feeling of failure, incapacity, judgment, etc. (Unlu, 2001). No matter what type of
communication the individual is going to face with another individual, the individual will go
through the way of influencing with his/her image, speech and behaviors. However, when the
individual becomes opposed to others, the other side stands on his/her own thoughts and thus
lives a concern. The anxiety he/she is experiencing causes his or her attitude to act in the face of
the individual or the individual. This leads to anxiety about social appearance in the person.

Social image anxiety is anxiety that focuses on more detailed physical features such as
nose, face shape, skin color, facial flush from the general physical appearance of an individual
(height, weight, etc.), according to Hart, Flora, Palyo, Fresco, Holle, and Heimberg (2008) it
refers to more than a general physical appearance and a holistic state. People who evaluate
themselves positively in physical terms are more secure in interpersonal relationships and more
successful in their work, while those who think that they are self-disgusted and have many
defective parts in themselves are constantly restless, insecure and worthless feelings at
various periods of their lives (Ergür, 1996). Negative beliefs about the person himself negatively
affects the ability to cope with later social situations. The thoughts that will help to cope with the
uncomfortable social situation are also stopped (Gruber & Heimberg, 1997). It is argued that the
inability to live in social situations leads to a vicious return that constantly feeds negative
perceptions about the self, and that social lingering continues to increase (Gruber & Heimberg,
1997).
People experience anxiety when they think they cannot make a positive impression on
others (Leary & Kowalski, 1995).

Appearance anxiety occurs when people's physical appearance is evaluated by other people.
In other words, it is the emotional state that people feel towards the evaluation of their physical
image by others (Çınar and Keskin, 2015). Appearance anxiety has negative effects on the
social, academic and professional aspects of individuals (Dindar and Akbulut, 2015). Social
appearance anxiety is about the appearance of an individual. Appearance anxiety includes an
individual’s thoughts about his/her body rather than his/her physical appearance (Yüceant and
Unlü, 2017). Appearance anxiety is what individuals feel about the assessment of their physical
build by others. Individuals have their own perceptions about their physical build. Some
individuals feel anxious about how their appearance is perceived by others (Mülazımoğlu Ballı et
al., 2014).
It is stated that appearance anxiety is positively related to social anxiety and negative
body image. It is also stated to be positively associated with emotional problems (e.g.,
depression, anxiety) and interpersonal problems (suspicious, submissive), (Claes et al., 2012).

People develop feelings, attitudes and behaviors about their bodies according to the
ideal measures determined in the society. Not having these socially accepted measures can
cause negativities in terms of self-evaluation in people (Yamak et al., 2016).There is a
relationship between physical self-respect, body satisfaction, diet, motivation to physical
activities, and physical activities and social appearance anxiety (Yousefi et al., 2009). People
who evaluate themselves physically well are more secure in their relationships and more
successful in their profession. On the other hand, those who think that they have many bad
sides feel restless, insecure and worthless. It is expected that university students who are not
satisfied with their physical structure will experience some psychological problems (Kılıç, 2015).
Physical activity elicits a sense of personal identity, social identity and group membership in
people. Participating in physical activity increases self-understanding and self-confidence in
individuals. It develops social communication skills, cooperation increases. It helps to reduce
mental fatigue and tension (Gür and Küçükoğlu, 1992).
Individuals have their own perceptions of their physical structure, and these perceptions
can give people morale in some cases, and in others, they can create anxiety. Appearance anxiety
is a phenomenon that occurs in the mind of the person due to physical structure. Appearance
anxiety is expressed as individuals’ feelings towards the assessment of their physical structures
by other individuals. Individuals are sometimes concerned about how other people look at
themselves. If anxiety is high, individuals take action to leave a positive impression on their
environment and if they fail, they may experience disappointment (Mülazımoğlu, Erturan, &
Arslan, 2014). Appearance anxiety, which is also considered as social worry, can be expressed as
the physical assessment of the individual (Yüceant, 2013). While individuals who evaluate
themselves positively in terms of appearance, feel more successful and safe in interpersonal
communication and relationships, individuals who do not like themselves physically feel
constantly uneasy, unworthy and insecure in their lives (Ergür, 1996).

Lots of individuals want to communicate with attractive people. Individuals tried to be more
attractive and leave a positive impression on others by their communicative skills. They also
worry when they think they have not made a positive impression on others. Because anxiety is an
undesirable condition that disrupts interpersonal interactions and negatively affects the whole life
of the individual (Kashdan, 2007).

In general, physical activity brings individuals together regardless of religion, language,

race, gender, age, and culture, and creates a positive communication by creating a personal and
social identity and team spirit (Yilldiran & Yetim, 1996). In addition, when individuals engage in
physical activity, they gain a sense of self-expression and self-confidence, improving their skills
of success and social communication. In addition, it reduces mental exhaustion and tension, and
solidarity and gentleman’s spirit emerges (Aksoy, Aslan, & İmamoğlu, 2020; Gür & Küçükoğlu,
1992).
Appearance Anxiety and Related Concepts.
Students who are afraid of being judged negatively are experience of an anxiety
which is called physical appearance anxiety. Social relations refer the relationship between
two or more individuals through communication. Students have higher to encounter physical
appearance anxiety towards social relations. Physical appearance anxiety refers an anxiety feel a
dread of negative evaluation of its looks and body image by the people. Meanwhile, social
relations mean the relationship between two or more people through communications.
Researchers believe that most of the people today judged by their physical appearance such as
their face, hair, nose, color of the skin, height, body weight height and quality of clothing.
Studying physical appearance anxiety can develop students mind that being afraid of being
judged by their looks and body image is anxiety. If people have anxiety because of their
physical appearance may be it can sequel badly in social relations. Social appearance may be
correlated with social anxiety stresses in general pleasing appearance (Hart, Flora, Palyo,
Fresco, Holle, & Heimberg, 2008). Social appearance anxiety in adolescence might have a
harmful and serious sequel in upcoming future life (Celik, Turan, & Arici, 2014). Meanwhile,
social appearance anxiety is thought of as one of the parts of the social anxiety (Amil &
Bozgeyiklf, 2015).

Appearance Anxiety and Social Acceptance.

Appearance Anxiety and Loneliness. In a study carried out by Levinson, Fernandez

and Rodebaugh (2011) related to loneliness and appearance anxiety, the relationship between
appearance anxiety and loneliness along with body image dissatisfaction, body mass index and
gender has been investigated and they have found that the appearance anxiety plays a role in the
relationship between loneliness and body image dissatisfaction; and the appearance anxiety can
be reduced by reducing loneliness.
In another study conducted by Levinson and Rodebaugh (2009), some results were revealed
related to gender differences of individuals experiencing appearance anxiety. According to the
research, it has been found that the appearance anxiety is significantly higher in women than
men, and there is a positive correlation between appearance anxiety and social relationship
anxiety, fear of negative assessment and neuroticism. According to another study conducted on
appearance anxiety and negative body image perception, there is a positive relationship between
these two variables (Hart et al., 2008).

Appearance Anxiety and Self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to individuals’ overall

subjective evaluation of different aspects of the self, based on how people see themselves in
different roles and domains of their life (Rosenberg et al., 1995). As regards anxiety disorders,
self-esteem is known to play a role in social anxiety development (De Jong et al., 2012). People
with low self-esteem perceive themselves as worthless and unimportant, and often they have
negative thoughts about their value and appearance. These dysfunctional cognitive processes
related to negative self-evaluations have an impact on social functioning.
More precisely, people start to experience difficulties in social contexts since they
compare themselves to others and believe that others are better off, also known as upward social
comparison (Collins, 1996). This process is accompanied by a fear of failure in front of others
(Vogel et al., 2014). In this way, low self-esteem can create or exacerbate feelings of anxiety and
potentially lead to the development of social anxiety.

Interpersonal Styles
A major tenet of the interpersonal approach to personality is that, when people interact
with others, they attempt to elicit from them responses that confirm their own self-concepts.
According to interpersonal theorists, people try to present themselves to others in ways that will
evoke responses that coincide with their established and cognizant views of themselves (Beier &
Young, 1984; Carson, 1969; Goffman, 1967; Sullivan, 1953; Van Denburg, Schmidt, & Kiesler,
1992). However, it is also assumed that people are often unaware of the full range of their
interpersonal behavior and its impact on others (Anchin & Kiesler, 1982; Beier & Young, 1984;
Kiesler, 1983) and that the less aware people are of their impact on others, the greater the
probability that they will experience psychological problems and distress (Leary, 1957).
Because interpersonal behavior can be communicated through words actually spoken as
well as the unspoken accompaniments to those words-facial expressions, postures, gestures, and
other tacit cues-it is possible to be unaware of one’s words, one’s nonverbal behavior, or both.
Some interpersonal theorists believe that it is primarily lack of awareness of one’s nonverbal
behavior that is associated with psychological difficulties (Kiesler, 1988).Others have suggested
that unawareness of the impact of either one’s verbal or one’s nonverbal language can lead to
interpersonal distress (Leary, 1957).
We predicted that the greater the discrepancy between the people’s self-reported
personality style and others’ perceptions of the same person’s verbal and non- verbal styles, the
greater would be the self-reported psychological distress. Our rationale for this prediction came
from interpersonal theory, which suggests that when people communicate messages of which
they are unaware, they increase the likelihood that they will receive feedback inconsistent with
what they expect. In describing interpersonal communication, Beier and Young (1984)
distinguished between the persuasive message, in which people are aware of what they are
communicating, and the evoking message, in which people unconsciously “pull” for a certain
reaction from their audience. The evoking message, which sets the emotional climate of the
interaction, is the one to which the listener responds.
Characteristics of Interpersonal Style
The primary means by which human beings interact with each other and exchange
information is through communication, using both behavioral, verbal and non-verbal cues for the
satisfaction of various personal and relational needs. People establish and maintain their
interpersonal relationships through Set communication patterns, which are referred to as their
interpersonal styles. Since the late 1970's, a number of concepts have emerged in an attempt to
examine the specific patterns of human interaction among themselves, as guided by their
personality types, and to define the models of interpersonal styles.
Interpersonal communication is a cyclic process with both interactional partners
alternatively assuming the role of communicator and recipient (Schramm, 1954). Individuals
may verbally or para-verbally interact with the other person, and the pattern of this interaction is
relatively stable and influenced by the expectations of their particular cultural roles (Norton,
1978). With reference to communication and interpersonal relational styles, the behavioristic and
humanistic psychologists who study personality also focus on the concept as that which is based
on the behavior of the individual, and simultaneously, the interpersonal approach focuses on
interpersonal interactions or on transactions between two or more individuals, inclusive of their
ways of relating to one another, their mutual communication and interaction.
The construct of interpersonal style is defined by Kiesler (1996) as the patterns of
interpersonal behaviors enacted by an individual, which are enduring and persist over long
periods of time. The interpersonal style of an individual is presumed to demonstrate considerable
temporal stability and consistency across several situations. Sullivan (1956) asserted that it is the
interpersonal style through which the personality of an individual manifests itself, characterized
by enduring patterns and styles that determine how people view themselves and how they react
to their immediate environments. However, the interpersonal approach focuses on human
transactions and their manner of relating, rather than on individual behavior. This human
transaction involves at least a dyad or more than two people in a group.

The Self-defeating Interpersonal Style

In the conceptualization of interpersonal behaviors and characteristics, Leary (1957)
assumes that all interpersonal behaviors are attempts to avoid anxiety or to establish and
maintain self-esteem in interpersonal interactions. He proposed an Interpersonal Circumplex
Model (IPC). It consists of a circular continuum of personality formed through the convergence
of two major axes which are power and Love. The power axis has dominance on one end, and
submission on the other, whereas the opposing sides of the love axis are love and hate (Wiggins
& Broughton, 1996). IPC demonstrates 16 basic interpersonal themes, of which each theme
expressed various amounts of power and affiliation.
There were 16 sections in IPC model and 8 octants, whereby each octant is the
amalgamation of two adjacent segments, and is distinguished by adjectival labels. Among the
various octants, Leary distinguished a Self-Effacing — Masochistic categorization as well. This
category is described by the adjectival terms of shy, modest, guilty, anxious, duty, obey, weak,
and submit, which are the primary traits of individuals who possess this interpersonal style.

Theory of Interpersonal Styles.

According to interpersonal theory, people who are unaware of the content of their
evoking messages are more likely to receive unexpected and negative responses from listeners
(Kiesler, 1988; Sullivan, 1953). Their lack of awareness of what elicits the unexpected reaction
generates difficulty in their relationships that ultimately leads to personal maladjustment and
negative self-evaluation. Sul- livan (1953) noted that anxiety often results when people realize
that their feedback from others does not match their view of themselves. Kiesler observed that,
as a result of such feedback, people often find themselves experiencing “enduring and
unaccountable aversive feelings or negative self evaluations” (1988, p. 16).
The Importance of Interpersonal Styles
“Being aware of how you function on a team is an important factor in how your team
functions” (Skillpath, 2008).”
Interpersonal style can be defined as how we interact with other people.
Our style and behavior is impacted by our personalities, our values and the environment we live
and work in, and the styles of those we interact with.
Interpersonal Styles History
The term interpersonal “style” has historically been referred to as temperament. The Greek
physician Hippocrates (370 BC) identified four temperaments: sanguine (sociable and pleasure-
seeking), choleric (ambitious and leader-like), melancholic (analytical and thoughtful), and
phlegmatic (relaxed and quiet), which he incorporated into his medical theories.
In Carl Jung’s seminal work, Psychological Types (1923), he observed that people seemed
either more oriented to the external world of people and experiences (extraverted), or to their
internal worlds of thoughts, ideas, and memories (introverted). He also noticed two kinds of
cognitive processes - perception (sensing and intuition) and judgment (thinking and feeling),
which later (1940s) formed the basis of the Myers-Briggs Type instrument.
In William Moulton Marston’s “Emotions of Normal People” (1928), he categorized
behavior into four types (dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness) and theorized
that effective people, though having a predominant type, would behave in a manner consistent
with the demands and expectations of the environment. His research formed the theoretical basis
for the DiSC® personality assessment instrument.
Regardless of the approach used (to categorize style), the greater our awareness of our style
and that of others, the more effective we can be.
Why is understanding style important?
A number of practical benefits result from understanding interpersonal style.
 First, understanding your style and that of others will help you communicate more
effectively. An ability to adapt your style and communicate in your counterpart's
preferred “listening” style is a key success factor in getting the best out of them.
  Second, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your behavioral style helps you to
determine how you can make the most effective contribution with your team. Are you: A
strong decision-maker? A go-getter? Good in a crisis? An effective planner? A critical
thinker? A relationship builder? Good at involving others?
 Third, being aware of your team members’ styles (and associated strengths) will help you
make conscious choices on team member selection when building “task teams” to meet a
specific goal.
For example, does your initiative require people who are strongly goal and task orientated and/or
or good at process or building relationships? Depending on your priorities, you can build the
necessary strengths and diversity into your team. You may have team members who do not
exhibit a distinct style. These individuals often prove to be valuable team players, serving in a
number of roles or providing balance to a team with a predominant style.
How can you leverage it?
Each style brings distinct strengths (and weaknesses).
With respect to maximizing your interpersonal style, we turn to the contributions of Jim Temme
and Tony Alessandra.
In Temme’s book, Team Power – How to build and grow successful teams, he breaks
interpersonal style into 4 types, each of which has different strengths:
• Accommodating (“Get along”) types are good listeners and focus on team harmony and
steadiness, seeking to create a climate of trust
• Enthusiastic (“Get attention”) types are creative, good brain-stormers and encourage team
innovation
• Meditative (“Get it right”) types are strong on critical thinking, accuracy and details and will
encourage the team to solve problems through effective analysis
• Targeted (“Get it done”) types are excellent in crisis, are focused on goals and results and will
encourage the team to get the job done

Awareness of your interpersonal style, including its strength and weaknesses, is an important
step in determining how you can best contribute with you team.
Communicating with colleagues in their preferred style will help you get the best out of them. A
given situation will require you to refine your approach to meet the objective while leveraging
your collective strengths and listening styles.

Effective leaders get the best out of people by “style-flexing” and by leveraging the strengths of
team members in addition to their own. They are adept at building diverse teams comprising the
right mix of capabilities and approaches.

Psychological Wellbeing
The well-being or wellness initially emerged in the discipline of health and it was used
synonymous with healthfulness. Ryff (1989) has been working to explore the definition of
psychological well-being and founded that construct of meaning in life is a key contributor to
one's psychological well-being with the variety of components. Psychological or subjective
wellbeing is a multifaceted concept (Parkinson. 2006). Three aspects of psychological well-being
can differentiated; evaluative well-being, involving global assessments of how people evaluate
their lives; affective or hedonic well-being, involving measures of feelings such as happiness,
sadness and enjoyment. There is powerful evidence that positive indicators are not simply the of
negative indicators, but that both carry worthy information (Kahneman & Krueger, 2006) and
eudemonic well-being, which focuses on judgments about the meaning or purpose of one's life
and appraisals of constructs such as fulfillment, autonomy and control (Dolan. Layard, &
Metcalfe, 2011; Deaton & Kahneman, 2010).
Psychological wellbeing is defined as a positive mental health having two aspects: hedonic
(subjective experience of happiness and life satisfaction) and eudemonic (psychological
functioning, good relationship with others and self-realization) (Parkinson, 2006). Psychological
well-being focuses on individuals who experience deep happiness, resilience, wisdom,
psychological well-being and physical well-being and social well-being (Seligman. 2002). These
capacities allow people to develop the strengths that buffer against stress and will help them to
prevent both mental and physical illness.
In an important review of researches Diener and Myers (1995) concluded that despite of
individual difference in the causes and expression, subjective well-being can be defined by three
central components,
 Satisfactions with Life. People who like their work and satisfied with their personal
relationship are those who have high subjective well-being (Forgas, 2002).
Relative Presence of Positive Affect. Individuals who are more frequently feel
pleasure emotions, mainly because they tend to evaluate the world around them in positive way
are generally have high subjective well-being (Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002).
Relative Absence of Negative Affect. Individuals with a high sense of subjective
well-being experience fewer and less sever episodes of negative emotions such as anxiety,
depression and anger (Deci & Ryan. 2001).

In this context Diener and Myers (1995) figured out that the negative emotions are not
correlated. People may feel differently in many situations they may feel happy yet feel angry or
sad, and it is possible for individuals to be neither happy nor sad. So the presence of one type of
mood does not sure the absence of other because they are not opposite. So that subjective well
does not depend on single dimension of mood rather it depends on complex of experiences and
perspectives.

Models of Psychological W ell-Being

Psychological well-being has been explained through different theoretical models, which
offers elaboration in describing the said constructs.

Two Domain Model. Well-being is considered as a relative lack of pathological indications

while illness and wellness are two opposite poles. Positive and negative affect are two unique
dimensions of well-being according to two domain model (Bradburn, 1969). Positive affect and
negative affect at a particular time are not independent each suppresses the effects of others
(Diener. 1988).
A Multi-Dimensional Model. The six Core component of positive psychological functioning
has been explained by this model. The first component is self-acceptance which describes as a
person not only have positive attitude toward life but also accept and acknowledge multiple
aspects of self as well, which includes good and bad qualities. The second component is positive
relations with other peoples, which means that the healthy people have positive relationship with
others they have warmed, satisfying and trusting interpersonal relations. They have ability of
empathy, affection, intimacy and are connected about the welfare of others. The third component
is autonomy according to this he person is independent, self-determination and self-controlled.
The fourth component is environmental mastery which is a sense of mastery a competence in
managing the environment and has sense of good use of available opportunities. They have
ability to select the context which is supportive for their personal needs and values. The fifth one
is purpose in life which describes that the person feels a meaningful belief about their past and
present life and the person has purposeful goal and sense of directedness. The sixth component is
personal growth which means that the healthy people have sense of realizing their potentials and
are Open to new experiences (Keyes & Ryff, 1995).

Bottom-Up-Model
According to the bottom-up-model happiness derived from the combination of both
pleasurable and un-pleasurable experiences or moments, and summing up well-being in a
particular domains, such as marriage, work and family and a sense of subjective well- being
(Bornstein, Davidson, Keyes, & Moore, 2003). Happiness and satisfaction results from the
moments in time of life. Objective life circumstances should be the primary predictor of one’s
level of overall happiness (Brief, Butcher, George, & Link, 1993).

Top-Dow n Model
According to this model the person has predisposed interpretation of life experience in
positive or negative ways this predisposition affect satisfaction in a particular domain (Moller &
Saris, 2001).
Experiences by nature are not objectively good or bad but they are interpreted in that way.
According to longitudinal study the single model is not enough to explain the perception of well-
being rather both models, bottom-up and top-down, are important through which personality as
well as objective life events influence the ways of one's perceptions (Bonderet al.. 1995). So the
person with a positive psychological well-being evaluates his past and present life experiences
positively and in an optimistic way with positive future cognition and have socially approved
perception. On the other hand the person with negative psychological well-being toward his life
and social environment has pessimistic and desperate life approach.
The Development of Psychological Wellbeing

Social Factors and Brain Development. There is wide variation among people’s
emotional styles regarding their positive and negative feelings. In order to understand the
variations in emotional styles of the individuals, the key is to understand extraordinary prolong
period human of brain development. Most of the development of our brain undergoes postnatal,
just like the other major parts of the body. It is beautifully designed for the child to respond to
the environmental circumstances where the child happens to grow up. The age 2 is the most
sensitive periods for brain development (Ashman. Carver. & Dawson. 2000), but the most of the
major development and reorganizations continue until puberty (Huttenlocher. 1990).
Furthermore the part of the brain which is responsible for the planning and emotional control is
frontal lobes, which continue to develop until early adulthood (Keverne, 2005).
The cognitive abilities and well-being of all species deeply influenced by the early social
environment. The research provided evidence that, the positive emotions are associated positive
cognition and social even in infancy, which throughout the life provide a basis for resilience
(Ainsworth & Bell, 1970). This evidence has been confirmed by the other research, which
explored the neurobiological mechanism. According to this research (Meaney, 2001), the
production permanent increase in the concentration of glucocorticoid receptors, which are
present in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of the brain, is due to the high levels Of maternal
care (from either a biological or adoptive mother) and are related with resilience in stressful
conditions, high levels of learning and memory throughout life (Diorio et al., 2000).
Moreover, the survivals of hippocampal neurons, which arc associated with the maintenance
of cognitive, function into old age, increased by the good maternal care (Bredy, Champagne,
Grant, & Meaney, 2003). The studies have found that, the extended maternal separation can
leads to stress and psycho-stimulus, because separation leads to low level of sites for
neurotransmitter dopamine (Brake et al., 2004). As the animals experience the early maternal
separation, so they are addicted to psycho-stimulants. It means that this is the possible
neurobiological basis for the individual differences among humans regarding vulnerability
compulsive drug taking (Diorio, Francis, Meaney, & Plotsky, 2002). According to Diorio,
Francis, Meaney and Plotsky (2002), the socially stimulating environment in rodents reverses the
effect of maternal separation on endocrine and behavioral response to stress. Moreover, it
eradicates the differences in cognitive performance and hippocampal function (Bred,
Champagne, Grant, & Meaney, 2003; Brake et al., 2004).
All of these researches provided the strong support of effects of environmental factors during
the crucial post-natal period on emotional responsiveness and cognitive abilities. It also provided
the opportunities for cure at the later stages in life. Amato and Sobolewski (2001), found that the
role of parents both mother and father paly a very important role in developing well-being.
Moreover the increased risk of mental health in adolescents and early adulthood is associated
with the absence, abusive and authoritarian role of father (Amato & Sobolewski, 2001). Other
researches have shown the advantages of positive fathering styles means warmth of parents on
the well-being of child (Cheng & Furnham. 2000). Furthermore, it was found that affection
levels of parents, father shows high level of affection and mother shows lower level, leads to the
poor mental health (Christensen. Dear, Jorm, & Rodgers. 2003).

Genetic Factors. The individual genotype has important effect on the development of
both psychological well-being and resilience to stress. According to the latest research (Kendler
et al., 2005), the forms of short and long allele confer the exposure to depression and the
resilience factor. The short allele leads to depression if there are the environmental triggers,
whereas the long allele leads to protective factor (Kendler et al., 2005).
Other research have found that in the brain regions involve in processing emotions, the
serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene affect the brain activation in those areas of brain. It has also
found that there was the significant increase in cerebral blood flow in amygdala and decrease in
blood flow in ventromedial prefrontal cortex among volunteers of half homozygous for the short
allele and half homozygous for the long allele (Gillihan et al., 2007). The two groups were
similar in gender, age, and personality and had no psychiatric disorder. The research has been
advancing on the genes that are responsible for the risk of psychological disorders.

Social Support and Psychological Well-Being

Social support is defined as a factor that enhancing health and wellness and a buffer against
stressors of life (Dollete, Matthews, Phillips, & Steese, 2004). Furthermore Gurung (2006)
explained it as to being precious by others, honor, cared about, and loved by others who are
present in one's life. According to Nahid and Sarkis (1994), the social support protects the people
and moderates the effects of stressors on psychological well- being in life crisis such as
bereavement, illness, and other major stressors. The impacts of psychological problems have
been found to be decreased through social support and family support among students (Calvete
& Connor-Smith, 2006).
The motivational influence on student's performance is provided by the social support
(Wentzel, 1998). In an individual's life the social support is very much important. Many
psychological problems such as depression, loneliness, and anxiety have been related to the
deficits in social (Eskin, 2003). The social support influences the individual's response to social
stressors by providing them a positive way of thinking, cognitive reconstruction, and
encouragement to believe that, they can distract from painful situations by using their resources
(Calvete & Connor-Smith. 2006).

Rationale of the Study

The rationale of the study is to find out the relationship between shyness, appearance
anxiety, interpersonal styles and psychological wellbeing among university students which has
been rarely studied together in relation to each other specifically in Pakistan. This studied is
aimed to explore how shyness can affect the person appearance and his interpersonal styles. As
shyness has been studied mostly in social context.
The primary objective of the research is to identify how shyness influences the boldness of
people to seek psychiatric assistance. Numerous researchers have identified that social and
cultural factors are the main contributes that create hesitation or shyness among the people to
expose their psychological issues because in developing societies, the behavioral abnormalities
are considered as unacceptable phenomenon which leads the fear of social acceptance (Kim &
Omizo, 2003). The psychological field is in the process of emergence but mostly the research has
been conducted on psychology students with the primary perspective to identify whether they
will seek psychological assistance if they encounter with any psychological issue. Very few
researchers have studied the attitude on general population which leaves a larger gap to identify
that how shyness can influence the appearance, interpersonal styles of people.
In context of developing societies, Pakistan is one of the country where understanding of
people behavior is extensity important to develop the awareness and confidence on the expertise
of psychiatrists and psychological treatment. The current research will enhance the possibility of
identifying the contributing factors that affect the interpersonal styles of the students. Along with
that, we are including the participants who belongs to multicultural background and can fairy
represent their demographic infrastructure and approach of the people that what they feel about
getting psychological assistance. The research will also help researchers and policy makers for
developing policies to create awareness among the students that how psychologists and
psychological assistance is necessary for their well-being.
METHOD
METHOD

Objectives

Objectives of the study are:

1. To determine the role of shyness, appearance anxiety, interpersonal styles and

psychological well-being among university students.
2. To examine the role of various demographics variables (gender, age) in shyness,
appearance anxiety, interpersonal styles and psychological well-being among
university students.

Hypotheses:

1. High levels of shyness will be related high level of appearance anxiety among university
students.

2. High level of shyness will be related lower level of interpersonal styles among university
students.

3. High level of appearance anxiety will be related lower level of psychological wellbeing
among university students.

 Hypotheses is related to various demographics will also be formulated

Operational definitions of the variables

Shyness. Shyness is temperamental trait that is characterized by excessive self focus

especially in the situations of self evaluations (Henderson, Zimbardo & Carducci, 1999). For
present study, The Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (1983) was used to assess shyness
among university students. High score on the scale shows that the shyness may be interfering
with meeting the goals of the individual and low score shows that it is not affecting the normal
functioning of the individual.
 Appearance Anxiety. Social appearance anxiety is defined as “the fear that one will
be negatively evaluated because of one's appearance” (Hart et al., 2008). For present study,
Appearance Anxiety Inventory (2014) was used to assess the appearance anxiety among
university students. High score on the inventory shows that the appearance anxiety affect the
goals of the individual and low score shows that it is not affecting the normal functioning of the
individual.

Interpersonal Styles.

Psychological Wellbeing. According to Kammann and Flett (1983) the psychological

wellbeing is defined as state of general happiness and perceived wellbeing. Flourishing scale was
used to assess psychological wellbeing among university students. Higher scores on scale
signifies higher psychological wellbeing and lesser scores shows lower psychological wellbeing.

Instruments

The Revised Cheek & Buss Shyness Scale. It is a 13-items uni-dimensional measures of
shyness that is based on the original 9-items measure of shyness (Cheek, & Buss, 1981). The
items in this scale are rated on 5-point Likert type scale with response categories of 1= strongly
disagree to 5= strongly agree. Four items3, 6, 9, and 12, of the scale are negatively worded. The
RCBS showed strong internal consistency α =.90 and test retest reliability r = .88. High scores on
the scale shows high level of shyness and low score shows that low level of shyness (Cheek &
Buss, 1981; Leary, 1991).

Appearance Anxiety Inventory. The Appearance Anxiety Inventory is a 10 question self-

report scale that measures the cognitive and behavioral aspects of body image anxiety in general,
and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) in particular (Veale et al 2014). Scores consistent of a total
raw score derived by summing each item as well as two subscales Avoidance (items 1, 3, 4, 7, 9
and 10) and Threat Monitoring (items 2, 4, 6 and 8). Two percentiles are presented to indicate
how AAI scores compare to a body dysmorphic disorder group and a community sample. A
BDD percentile of 50 indicates average symptoms for someone with a BDD diagnosis before
treatment, while the community percentile represents scores in comparison to a normal
population.
Interpersonal Style.