An analysis of data from six research studies conducted between 1999 and 2020 revealed that individuals from Generation Z (also known as Zoomers), who were born between 1997 and 2012 tend to be shyer than Millennials, who were born between 1981 and 1996. This was true even though participants were assessed when they were roughly the same age. The study was published in Psychological science.
Each generation grows up in a society that is different from previous generations. For example, Generation Z grew up with the internet, social media, and smartphones as a normal part of their lives since they were born. These technologies are more widespread among Zoomers, and they see them as an essential part of their social environment.
In contrast, previous generations were introduced to these technologies later in life. Millennials, in particular, witnessed and experienced the development of social media during their youth and young adulthood.
The psychological characteristics of Generation Z individuals have been the topic of many scientific studies. These studies have found them to be more depressed, anxious, risk averse, cautious, lonely, concerned about safety, and less engaged in face-to-face social interactions than previous generations.
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The researchers of this study, led by Louis A. Schmidt, wanted to investigate whether Zoomers and Millennials differ in terms of shyness. They expected to find a difference because the changes in technology and society that occurred during Zoomers’ childhoods reduced the number of face-to-face interactions they have. Additionally, characteristics such as social cautiousness, risk aversion, and social fear, which are more prevalent in Zoomers, are all related to shyness.
They reasoned that if they studied the shyness of people belonging to different generations in the present, the results that they obtain might reflect differences between people of different age and not between generations. That is why they chose to analyze data from past studies, collected at the time when Millennials were roughly the same age Zoomers are now.
The researchers examined data from three studies conducted between 1999 and 2001, involving Millennials, and two studies conducted in 2018 and 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and one study in the latter half of 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic), involving Zoomers. The researchers divided the studies into pre-pandemic and pandemic categories.
The total number of participants across all six studies was 806 undergraduate students from McMaster University in Canada. At the time of the study, they were between 17 and 25 years old. Among them, 266 were Millennials, 263 were pre-pandemic Zoomers, and 277 were mid-pandemic Zoomers. The majority of participants (between 73% and 83%) were female, and over 80% of participants were White. Shyness was assessed using a set of five questions selected from the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale.
The researchers found that the average level of shyness was higher in the later studies. It was lowest in the studies conducted at the turn of the millennium (1999-2000), higher in 2018-2019, and highest in 2020. In other words, the findings indicated that Zoomers are shyer than Millennials were at the same age. Additionally, Zoomers who were students during the pandemic (in 2020) were even shyer than Zoomers studying before the pandemic.
“One explanation for between-generation differences in shyness is that unlike millennials, Gen Z is the first generation to have grown up entirely with smartphone technology along with a pervasive, and persuasive, exposure to social media during their formative child and adolescent years,” the study authors wrote.
“The changing social context due to innovations in technology may have led to fewer face-to-face social interactions and fewer opportunities to develop social skills and social competence while interacting with other people. In turn, this conceivably resulted in a learned and context-driven avoidance of in-person interactions leading to social isolation, social inhibition, and worry that characterize shyness.”
The study sheds light on an important aspect of differences between generations. However, it should be noted that participants of all studies were students of a single university in Canada. Additionally, shyness was solely assessed through a short self-report measure. Studies on other demographic groups and using different shyness assessments might obtain different results.
The paper, “iGen or shyGen? Generational Differences in Shyness”, was authored by Louis A. Schmidt, Christina A. Brook, Raha Hassan, Taigan MacGowan, Kristie L. Poole, and Michelle K. Jetha.
