Shyness and Loneliness in Chinese Young Adults: Roles of Aggression and Gender

Abstract

Loneliness has become an important concern among Chinese university students. Previous studies evidenced the association of loneliness with aggression as well as shyness. Given the variance existed in males and females on shyness and aggression, a more comprehensive consideration can be taken into account to investigate the underlying mechanism in the development of loneliness among Chinese youth. In the current study, conditional indirect effect model was built to examine the effect of shyness and aggression on the loneliness as a function of gender. Shyness, aggression, and loneliness were measured respectively by Shyness Questionnaire, UCLA loneliness questionnaire, and Buss & Perry aggression questionnaire among 503 Chinese university students. Aggression was demonstrated as a significant mediator in between shyness and loneliness university students. Gender moderated this indirect effect. For the females, indirect effect of aggression was significant with effect estimate as 0.81 (95%CI: 0.48–1.22). For the males, indirect effect of aggression was not significant with effect estimate as 0.24 (95%CI: −0.03 to 0.57). Findings suggest that the effect of shyness on loneliness can be altered in female and male students probably due the different social norms of aggression. This finding can potentially inform clinical practices regarding loneliness among Chinese university students with consideration of gender difference.