Normative Beliefs about Social Withdrawal in Adolescence

The goal of this study is to explore normative beliefs about social withdrawal during adolescence. Participants were N = 419 adolescents (M_age = 16.13 years), who completed measures of normative beliefs about social withdrawal and their own social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability). Among the results, adolescents reported greater overall acceptance of unsociability compared to shyness, however, some gender differences also emerged. Specifically, adolescents were more accepting of unsociability when depicted by hypothetical females, and more accepting of shyness when depicted by hypothetical males. Participant social withdrawal was associated with greater acceptance of socially withdrawn behaviors in others. These findings provide a first look at normative beliefs about social withdrawal during a developmentally critical age period for this construct.