Exploring Associations Between Preservice Teachers' Shyness and Their Strategies and Attitudes Toward Hypothetical Shy, Exuberant, and Typical Children

The primary goal of the current study was to examine associations between preservice teachers’ shyness and their attitudes and strategies toward hypothetical shy, exuberant and typical children. Participants were 195 preservice teachers (172 women, 23 men). Teachers were presented with three hypothetical vignettes describing children displaying shy, exuberant and typical behaviors in the classroom. Teachers also completed self-reported measures of shyness and personality traits. Attitudes were teacher warmth, teacher self­efficacy, and perceived academic success, whereas strategies included developmentally supportive and non­developmentally supportive strategies. Results indicated that teacher shyness was associated with expected use of teaching strategies, teacher warmth and self-efficacy, but not with the perceived academic success in children. Findings have implications for consideration of teachers’ shyness for teacher behaviors.