An analysis of the Friendship Patterns of Shy Children

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of shy children\'s friendships. The participants were 96 shy children identified from 455 5th or 6th grade elementary school children. The data were collected via questionnaires and analyzed by chi-square test, t-test and Pearson\'s correlation. Our results showed that 1) Shy children were as likely as other children to have stable best friendships. 2) Shy children with mutual best friends showed lower aggression and lower victimization than shy children without mutual best friends. 3) Shy girls reported higher level of friendship quality than did shy boys. 4) Regarding friendship quality, there were significant similarities in terms of both intimacy and companionship between shy children and their best friends.