1. Friendship Quality as a Moderator
The Relationship between Shyness and Loneliness in Ethnic Minority College Students:
Friendship Quality as a Moderator
Angela J. Calvin1 and Nina S. Mounts2
1 Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal IL, 2 Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL
Introduction
The transition to college is particularly relevant to the study of shyness because the first year at college involves interactions with new, initially unacquainted peers, communication with people of authority (e.g., professors), and situations that involve social and intellectual evaluation (Asendorpf, 2000). All of these social characteristics occur within an unfamiliar setting and have been known to elicit shy feelings and behaviors (Rubin & Coplan, 2010). Because the college environment is an elicitor of shyness, shy college students are at risk for many negative social outcomes, such as loneliness (Asendorpf, 2000; Mounts, Valentiner, Anderson, & Boswell, 2006). However, not all shy college students experience loneliness. Most shy college students are able to form a close relationship with a peer during their first year of college (Mounts et al., 2006).
Although there have been studies on shyness during the college transition, many studies have not looked at shyness specifically among minority students. Not only can transitioning to an environment where the student is in the minority group be challenging, but also being shy may further increase the risk for negative outcomes during the first year of college. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether evaluation of close friendship moderates the relationship between shyness and loneliness during the first year of college.
Hypotheses
College students who are high in shyness will experience higher feelings of loneliness during the college transition compared to college students who are less shy.
Friendship quality will be negatively associated with loneliness.
For college students who have a high quality friendship, shyness will be negatively associated with loneliness; however, among college students who have a low quality friendship, shyness will be positively associated with loneliness.
Research Questions
Are there gender differences in friendship quality and loneliness among ethnic minority college students?
Do shyness, friendship quality, and loneliness vary by ethnicity?
Method
Participants
83 ethnic minority undergraduates
51.8% male
Mean age (SD = 1.26, range years)
61.4% lived with an assigned roommate
55.4% Black, African, African-American, 27.7% Hispanic/Latino, 15.7% Asian, Asian-American, 1.2% Middle Eastern
Procedure
Recruited via university online enrollment system
Received extra credit for introductory psychology class
Met in designated classroom at university
Completed questionnaires in presence of research assistants
Measures
Shyness (Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale, 1981).
9-item Likert-type self-report questionnaire. Asked to indicated how much they agree with statements describing shy or un-shy feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Sample item: “I feel tense when I am with people I don’t know well.” (α = .74)
Friendship Quality (McGill Friendship Questionnaire – Friend’s Functions, 1999).
30-item self-report questionnaire. Participants think of a close friend they have made since coming to college and then indicate how often their close friend does particular friendship functions. Participants imagine that the blank space in each item contains their friend’s name. Participants rate how much they agree or disagree with statements about their close friend using a 9-point Likert scale (0 = Never to 8 = Always). Sample item: “__helps me when I need it.” (α = .99)
Loneliness (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980).
20-item Likert-type self-report questionnaire (1 = Never to 4 = Often). Sample item: “How often do you feel you lack companionship?” (α = .91)
Demographics
Asked about their sex, age, marital status, who they were living with during that present time, and their ethnicity.
Results
Table 1
Bivariate Correlations among the Variables
Is shyness associated with loneliness (H1)?
The linear regression revealed that shyness was a highly significant predictor of loneliness, accounting for 21% of the variance.
Is friendship quality associated with loneliness (H2)?
The linear regression revealed that friendship quality was a highly significant predictor of loneliness, accounting for 20% of the variance.
Does friendship quality moderate the association between shyness and loneliness (H3)? The two predictors, shyness and friendship quality, accounted for 37% of the variance in ratings of loneliness, which was highly significant F(1, 81) =22.71, p < Both shyness ( = .45, p < .001) and friendship quality ( = -.42, p < .001) demonstrated highly significant effects on loneliness scores. However, the interaction of shyness and friendship quality was a not significant predictor of loneliness ( = -.39, p = .52).
Table 2
Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis Predicting Loneliness From Participant Shyness and Friendship Quality
Figure 1
Relationship between Shyness, Friendship Quality, and Loneliness
Are there gender differences across ratings of shyness, friendship quality, and loneliness (R1)? Results from an MANOVA revealed support for my hypothesis by indicating there was no significant multivariate main effect for gender, Wilks’ λ = .95, F(6, ) = 1.17, p =.33, partial eta squared = .05. Power to detect the effect was .30.
Do shyness, friendship quality, and loneliness vary by ethnicity (R2)? The MANOVA revealed no significant multivariate main effect for ethnicity, Wilks’ λ = .87, F(12, ) = 1.23, p =.28, partial eta squared = .05. Power to detect the effect was .49.
Discussion
The results from the present study support previous findings that ethnic minority students who are shy and minority students who do not have a high quality friendship are at risk for feelings of loneliness (Mounts et al., 2006). However, the third hypothesis predicting friendship quality would moderate the relationship between shyness and loneliness was not supported.
The evaluations of a close friend at college may not have moderated the relationship between shyness and loneliness because other relationships may be more salient to feelings of loneliness. For instance, friendship quality only predicts happiness if the college student is not currently in a romantic relationship (Demir, 2010). Further, a shy college student may have a high quality friendship with a friend not on campus that may make up for the poor friendship quality of a close friend on campus. Lastly, the quality of the relationship with parents may compensate for a low quality friendship. Research has shown ethnic minority college students who report high parental support during the college transition are less likely to feel lonely (Mounts et al., 2006). Future investigations need to consider various relationships among college students’ social networks to determine which relationships more effectively diminish feelings of loneliness. 1 2 3
1. Shyness -
2. Loneliness
.47***
3. Friendship Quality
-0.17
-.45***
Note. ***p < .001
Loneliness
Predictor Variables b β
R2 Change
Block 1
Shyness
0.24
0.45***
0.20
Block 2
0.22
0.41***
Friendship Quality
-0.15
-0.42***
0.17
Block 3
Shyness x Friendship Quality
-0.03
-0.39
0.00
Note. ***p < .001