THE CAUSES OF SHYNESS

Man has undoubtedly a lot of emotions and various characteristics. One of them is shyness. Shyness is an emotion that affects how a person feels and behaves around others. In other words, shyness can mean feeling uncomfartable, self-conscious, nervous, bashful, timid or insecure. People who feel shy sometimes notice physical sensations like blushing , feeling speechless, shaky or breathless. Shyness is the opposite of being comfortable with yourself. When people are shy, they can hesitate to say or do something, because they are  unsure of them and are not ready to be noticed. Even though there are several causes of shyness, reacting to new things and genetics can be claimed to be the most important two.

To begin with, reacting to new things is known to be the primary cause of shyness. New and unfamiliar situations can bring about shy feelings like the first day in school, meeting someone new or speaking in front of a group for the first time. Shy feelings can be mild, medium or intense like other emotions  because all of them  depend on the situation and the person. Someone who usually or often feels shy might think of himself as a shy person. Shy people may need more time to  change. They may choose to stick to what they know or what’s familiar. On the other hand, shy people generally hesitate before trying  something new. They often prefer watching others before joining a group activity.Indeed, teasing and being bullied are also known to be causes to shyness. Shortly, shy people think of others eyes before their own, while they are doing something for the first time.

Furthermore, genetic factors seem to be the second cause of shyness. People’s genes determine their physical traits like height, eye color and body type.  But genes also influence certain personality traits, including shyness. For example, if a child has a shy parent who is the mother, the  father or both, he  probably has a genetic tendency to be naturally shy. However, everyone with a genetic tendency to be shy does not develop a shyness temparement, because life experiences also have a role. Some types of experience can build up in a  person’s thoughts and follow him or her all the way up to adulthood. Consequently, these types of experiences prevent him from being socially accepted. So sometimes, people can experience  a case of anxiety or lack of confidence due to experiences. These cases have also been shown to cause shyness(to be causes of shyness). In brief, one’s genes and experiences have a vital role in the development of syhness.

All in all, reacting to new things and genetic factors are said to be the most common causes of shyness. I think, the word  ‘’ you are born shy’’  is  really silly and really dangerous, and the fear of failure is a surmountable situation. If you want to get rid of shyness, you have to start to overcome your negative self-image.

Burak Özçifçi