Generation Z (1997–2012) has been characterized in the popular media as more socially inhibited, cautious, and risk averse than prior generations, but are these differences found between generations on an empirical level? And, if so, are these differences observable within generations in response to acute events such as the COVID-19 pandemic? Using a simplified time-lagged design to control for age effects, we examined between-group differences in self-reported shyness in young adult participants (N = 806, age: 17–25 years) at the same developmental age and university from the millennial generation (tested: 1999–2001; n = 266, Mage = 19.67 years, 72.9% female) and Generation Z (tested: 2018–2020), the latter generation stratified into prepandemic (n = 263, M = 18.86 years, 82.4% female) and midpandemic (n = 277, Mage = 18.67 years, 79.6% female) groups. After first establishing measurement invariance to ensure trustworthy group comparisons, we found significantly higher mean levels of shyness across each successive cohort, starting with millennials, through Generation Z before the pandemic, to Generation Z during the pandemic.
American Psychological Association (APA) (2018). Stress in America: Generation Z. Stress in AmericaTM Survey. Author.
2.
American Psychological Association (APA) (2020). Stress in AmericaTM 2020: A National Mental health Crisis. Author.
3.
AppelM.GnambsT. (2019). Shyness and social media use: A meta-analytic summary of moderating and mediating effects. Computers in Human Behavior, 98, 294–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.04.018
4.
AradG.Shamai-LeshemD.Bar-HaimY. (2021). Social distancing during a COVID-19 lockdown contributes to the maintenance of social anxiety: A natural experiment. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 45(4), 708–714. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-021-10231-7
BrandtN. D.DreweliesJ.WillisS. L.SchaieK. W.RamN.GerstorfD.WagnerJ. (2022). Acting like a baby boomer? Birth-cohort differences in adults’ personality trajectories during the last half a century. Psychological Science, 33(3), 382–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211037971
7.
BrookC. A.SchmidtL. A. (2022). Psychometric perspectives on shyness across the lifespan: Measurement invariance and mean-level differences in ages 4–86. Applied Developmental Science, 26(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2019.1679023
8.
BruchM. A.GorskyJ. M.CollinsT. M.BergerP. A. (1989). Shyness and sociability reexamined: A multicomponent analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 904–915. https://www.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.57.5.904
9.
CarltonC. N.GarciaK. M.AndinoM. V.OllendickT. H.RicheyJ. A. (2022). Social anxiety disorder is associated with vaccination attitude, stress, and coping responses during COVID-19. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 46(5), 916–926. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-022-10310-3
10.
ChęćM. (2019). Contemporary views on shyness – A literature review. Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 21(3), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.12740/APP/109628
ChenF. (2007). Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 14(3), 464–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510701301834
14.
CheungG. W.RensvoldR. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5
15.
CoplanR. J.McVarnockA.HipsonW. E.BowkerJ. C. (2022). Alone with my phone? Examining beliefs about solitude and technology use in adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 46(6), 481–489. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254221113460
16.
DunnT. J.BaguleyT.BrunsdenV. (2014). From alpha to omega: A practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation. British Journal of Psychology, 105(3), 399–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12046
17.
GentileB.WoodL. A.TwengeJ. M.HoffmanB. J.CampbellW. K. (2015). The problem of generational change: Why cross-sectional designs are inadequate for investigating generational differences. In LanceC. E.VandenbergR. J. (Eds.), More statistical and methodological myths and urban legends (pp. 101–111). Routledge.
18.
HawesM. T.SzenczyA. K.KleinD. N.HajcakG.NelsonB. D. (2022). Increases in depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Medicine, 52(14), 3222–3230. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720005358
19.
HooperD.DoughlanJ.MulenM. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6(1), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.21427/D7CF7R
20.
MelchiorL. A.CheekJ. M. (1990). Shyness and anxious self-preoccupation during a social interaction. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 3, 117–130.
21.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (2002). How to use a Monte Carlo study to decide on sample size and determine power. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(4), 599–620. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0904_8
22.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (2017). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Author.
23.
PooleK. L.Van LieshoutR. J.SchmidtL. A. (2017). Shyness and sociability beyond emerging adulthood: Implications for understanding the developmental sequelae of shyness subtypes. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 36, 316–334.
24.
SchmidtL. A. (2020). Social distancing emotions: A new kind of (mal)adaptive shyness resulting from COVID-19. Psynopsis, 42(3), 20.
25.
SmitsI. A.DolanC. V.VorstH. C.WichertsJ. M.TimmermanM. E. (2011). Cohort differences in Big Five personality factors over a period of 25 years. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(6), 1124–1138. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022874
StewartA. J.HealyJ. M. (1989). Linking individual development and social changes. American Psychologist, 44(1), 30–42.
29.
TrzesniewskiK. H.DonnellanM. B.RobinsR. W. (2008). Do today’s young people really think they are so extraordinary? An examination of secular trends in narcissism and self-enhancement. Psychological Science, 19(2), 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02065.x
30.
TwengeJ. M. (2017). iGen: Why today’s super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy—and completely unprepared for adulthood. Simon and Schuster.
31.
TwengeJ. M.GentileB.CampbellW. K. (2015). Birth cohort differences in personality. In MikulincerM.ShaverP. R.CooperM. L.LarsenR. J. (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology: Vol. 4. Personality processes and individual differences (pp. 535–551). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14343-024
32.
TwengeJ. M.ParkH. (2019). The decline in adult activities among US adolescents, 1976–2016. Child Development, 90(2), 638–654. https://doi.org./10.1111/cdev.12930
33.
TwengeJ. M.SpitzbergB. H.CampbellW. K. (2019). Less in-person social interaction with peers among U.S. adolescents in the 21st century and links to loneliness. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(6), 1892–1913.
34.
van de SchootR.LugtigP.HoxJ. (2012). A checklist for testing measurement invariance. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9(4), 486–492. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2012.686740
35.
YangY.LandK. C. (2013). Age-period-cohort analysis: New models, methods, and empirical applications. CRC Press.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
