How Shy Are You
Read each item carefully, and decide to what extent it is characteristic of your feelings and behavior. Answer each question by choosing a number from the scale below.
1 = Very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree
2 = Uncharacteristic
3 = Neutral
4 = Characteristic
5 = Very characteristic or true, strongly agree
Questions
______/ 1. I feel tense when I'm with people I don't know well.______/ 2. I am socially somewhat awkward.
______/ 3. I find it difficult to ask other people for information.
______/ 4. I am often uncomfortable at parties and other social functions.
______/ 5. When in a group of people, I have trouble thinking of the right things to say.
______/ 6. It takes me long to overcome my shyness in new situations.
______/ 7. It is hard for me to act natural when I am meeting new people.
______/ 8. I feel nervous when speaking to someone in authority.
______/ 9. I have doubts about my social competence.
______/ 10. I have trouble looking someone right in the eye.
______/ 11. I feel inhibited in social situations.
______/ 12. I find it hard to talk to strangers.
______/ 13. I am more shy with members of the opposite sex.
@@@ Now, add up your score. If you scored over 49, you're probably very shy. If your score is between 34 and 49, you're somewhat shy. If you scored below 34, you're probably not a particularly shy person, although you may feel shy in one or two situations. Most shy people score over 39 and a few reach the possible high score of 65.
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An Internet Poem of Shyness By Jamie Sue Reinhart
Poem contributed March 14, 2001
Conversations in my head always there but never to be said,
Can't escape my childish dreams, my fantasies, the unreal realities,
Talking to myself again no one seems to be around,
I hide myself inside myself, never thinking I'll be found,
Alone I sit in my own world thinking of a thought that never wakes,
Sometimes I dare to open my eyes only to find those that despise,
Oh how the light blinds,
I disappear back in the dark; it leaves an everlasting mark,
Suddenly trapped with no escape, too lonely to stay, too scared to come out,
I find myself drowning, the water too deep, a nightmare I'll forever keep.