Abstract:
Career identity exploration is a central component of the lives of undergraduate
university students. Although students are encouraged to explore, it is unclear whether
different methods of exploration are better suited for certain individuals. In the present
study, quantitative data were collected to examine the relationship between shyness and
various methods of exploration. Two hundred fifty-seven university undergraduate
students (29 male), ranging in age from 17-25 years completed a 60-minute self-report
questionnaire. Shyness, identity, identity distress, subjective dimensions of exploration
(satisfaction with exploration, reasons for not exploring, helpfulness of exploration
methods), foci of exploration (non-social, social, self, and environmental), approaches to
exploration (breadth, depth), and moderating variables (social support, sociability) were
measured.
Shyness was positively correlated with moratorium (high exploration, low
commitment) and uncorrelated with the other identity statuses. Shyness was also
positively correlated with identity distress, and a predicted interaction between shyness
and identity diffusion predicting career identity distress was supported. Shyness was
negatively correlated with satisfaction with amount of exploration engaged in to-date. In
addition, shyness was correlated with the likelihood of selecting too stressful and too
anxiety provoking as reasons for engaging in less exploration than one would like.
Expected relationships between shyness and beliefs about, and engagement in, various
methods of exploration were largely non-significant. Exceptions to this were the negative
correlations between shyness and engagement in social exploration, and beliefs about the
helpfulness of social self-exploration, both of which were significant at a trend level. A predicted interaction between shyness and social support predicting total social
exploration was supported, showing that high social support buffers the negative
relationship between shyness and exploration; such a moderating relationship did not
exist, however, between sociability, shyness and social exploration.
Results suggest that although shy university students are engaged in career
exploration, they are experiencing feelings of distress and dissatisfaction with their career
identity exploration and development. Thus, to help shy students become successfiil in
their exploration, it is important for counsellors, family members, and peers to be aware
of the feelings the individuals are experiencing and help them reduce the anxiety and
stress associated with the exploration process. One promising method, supported by the
results in this study, is by encouraging shy individuals to explore with social support.
