Life course sequelae of childhood shyness in Sweden: Comparison with the United States

Using data from a Swedish longitudinal project, we predicted timing of marriage and parenthood and age-35 career success from mother-rated shyness in 8-10-year-old children. Results are compared with those previously found for Americans. Like shy American boys, shy Swedish boys married and became fathers later than nonshy boys. Unlike American boys, Swedish boys' adult careers were not affected by shyness. Like shy American girls, shy Swedish girls later married and became mothers at the same time as their peers. However, they also attained lower levels of education than nonshy girls. Results suggest that the life consequences of shyness depend upon its culturally defined gender and situation appropriateness.