Introversion, shyness, and social anxiety are commonly used interchangeably. Even I’ve made the mistake of confusing them in the past.
However, there are very distinct characteristics to each and they should not be confused.
When you see someone avoiding a social activity, what is your first thought? Maybe the reason they don’t want to engage in the social activity isn’t quite what you think.
Introversion, shyness, and being socially anxious each have their own underlying reasons for why a person would rather stay in than go hang out with their friends.
Understanding Introversion, Shyness, and Social Anxiety
Before we can compare what the differences are, let’s look at what it really means to be introverted, shy, or socially anxious. Each has its own characteristics and should not be confused with one another.
What is an Introvert
The meaning of introvert comes from the Latin translation “intro-vertere”, which means “turning inward”. Introvert describes people who attend to their internal thoughts and feelings.
Everyone is born with an innate temperament; the way a person interacts and behaves with other people and their environment. Introversion prefers minimally stimulating environments.
Introverts can process everything in their surroundings and will pay attention to all sensory details, not just the people around them. They often have active dialogues with themselves and feel energized when reading a book, thinking deeply, or journaling.
Introversion is a spectrum and anyone can experience characteristics of both introversion or extroversion. Most people are not purely one or the other, but some characteristics may be stronger.
Common Signs of Introversion
- drained by certain social interactions
- prefer working alone so you can focus on the task at hand
- rather spend time with a small group of close friends than a large group of people
- find yourself daydreaming, allowing your mind to wander or escape
- prefer expressing yourself through writing over talking
- seek meaning in both your relationships and interests
What Causes Introversion
Introversion is an innate temperament you are born with. However, the degree to which you are introverted can be influenced by how you are raised and other environmental factors.
One of the biggest differences you’ll notice is your sensitivity to dopamine. Introverted brains are far less driven by the rewards of dopamine than compared to extroverts.
This dopamine sensitivity is determined by genetics and one example of how our DNA plays a role in our personality.
What is Shyness
Shyness is a feeling of nervousness or discomfort, usually caused by fear of social situations. Shyness is often linked with low self-esteem and is characterized by:
- excessive self-conscious
- negative self-evaluation
- negative self-preoccupation
People can feel shy from new situations, being among strangers, and even approaching or being approached by someone.
Common Signs of Shyness
- negative feelings about themselves
- worries about how others view them
- withdrawal or avoidance of social interactions
- blushing
- sweating
- racing heart-rate
- upset stomach
What Causes Shyness
The three characteristics of shyness mentioned above all require a sense of self. A sense of self does not begin to develop until about the age of 18 months, which suggests you are not born with shyness.
Shyness is driven by both biological and environmental influences. Research shows that shyness is influenced by social experiences, especially those with your parents.
Overprotective parents can cause children to be shy and have difficulty developing social skills.
What is Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety is one of the five major types of anxiety disorders. It is fear or apprehension about social interactions or performance situations such as:
- public speaking
- engaging in meetings or classes
- meeting new people
- going to social events or activities
- talking on the phone
- expressing opinions
Social anxiety occurs when you are exposed to judgment, scrutiny, or rejection in a social or performance situation.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Social Anxiety
- feelings of humiliation or embarrassment
- fear interacting with strangers
- over-analyzing your performance
- avoiding situations where you may be the center of attention
- blushing
- racing hear-rate
- trembling
- light-headed
- upset stomach
What Causes Social Anxiety
Like shyness, social anxiety isn’t something you are born with. However, genetics can influence whether you develop social anxiety or not.
Social anxiety can be caused by environmental factors such as your social interactions during your development years. People are more at risk of developing social anxiety in controlling or overprotective environments.
Being socially anxious is linked to a history of abuse, bullying, or family conflict. These negative experiences in combination with genetic and environmental factors can cause someone to be socially anxious.
Introvert vs Social Anxiety
Introversion and social anxiety are commonly confused. Social anxiety is often mistakenly thought to be an extreme form of introversion.
However, this could not be further from the truth and both are quite different. Introversion is about social energy, while social anxiety is a mental illness focused on fear of social interactions.
The main differences between introversion and social anxiety are:
- Introverts recharge and feel energized when they are alone whereas social anxiety is a fear of social interactions.
- You are born with introversion, it is a personality trait. Social anxiety is developed based on your environment.
- Being an introvert is a way of life, you are in control of your choices compared to being socially anxious which can prevent you from doing what you want and interfere with your life.
- Solitude helps introverts recharge but only provides temporary relief for socially anxious people.
- Introverts aren’t afraid of what others think, but with social anxiety, you fear judgment from social interactions or performances.
- Introverts like to keep their social circle small, build meaningful relationships and meet people on their own terms. Socially anxious people want to meet others but fear or avoid doing so.
- Introverts are able to enjoy social activities. Socially anxiety makes it difficult to enjoy social engagements due to feelings of humiliation or embarrassment.
- Introverts don’t have a perfectionism attitude. Socially anxious people will have that all-or-nothing perception and negatively critique their performance.
A person can be both an introvert and socially anxious. Both introverts and extroverts can experience social anxiety. But being an introvert does not mean you are socially anxious.
Shyness vs Social Anxiety
Unlike introversion, shyness and social anxiety share many common characteristics. Shyness is known as a more mild version of social anxiety.
In a study, it was found that shyness and social anxiety both exist on the same continuum. This means that the symptoms from both experiences are very similar, but the intensity can vary depending on where you are in the continuum.
The study reported that shy people had more similarities with social phobia on the affective dimension (fear and anxiety), and less so on the behavioral dimension (functional impairment and avoidance).
Common Symptoms
Shyness and social anxiety share many common symptoms such as:
- negative feelings about themselves
- worries about how others view them
- embarrassment or judgment
- difficulty speaking or speaking very softly
- blushing
- sweating
- racing heart-rate
- upset stomach
Difference Between Shyness and Social Anxiety
Although the symptoms of both are very similar, the main difference between shyness and social anxiety are:
- intensity of the fear and anxiety
- impairment of functioning
- level of avoidance
Generally, people with shyness experience lower severity of symptoms. Most don’t experience any disruptions to their daily life compared to people with social anxiety. Avoidance of social activities is also much less common with those who are shy.
Although most with social anxiety experience symptoms of shyness, being shy does not mean you will have social anxiety. Less than 25% of shy individuals in the US have symptoms that meet the diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder.
Is Your Introversion or Shyness a Social Anxiety Disorder?
Now that we understand the difference between introversion, shyness, or social anxiety we can better understand what exactly we experience.
However, if you are concerned about whether you experience social anxiety, check out our guide on the different types of anxiety disorders to see if your symptoms fall into the social anxiety diagnostic criteria or share it with a friend who may be interested.