The Social Reticence Scale: an objective instrument to measure shyness.

The development of a 22-item measure of shyness, the Social Reticence Scale, is described. Shyness is a common but often seriously limiting constellation of feelings and attitudes experienced in social situations. Research on shyness has been hampered by the lack of a valid, reliable and easily administered instrument with which to measure shyness. The Social Reticence Scale was found to have substantial internal consistency and test-retest reliability and several assessments of criterion and construct validity suggested that the scale was a valid measure of shyness. Preliminary evidence regarding discriminant validity is also presented as well as the factor structure of the scale.