The Handbook of Solitude

Research on culture and social withdrawal has focused mainly on: (1) the display of socially withdrawn behavior among children with different cultural backgrounds; and (2) adults’ and children’s perceptions or views of socially withdrawn behaviors. Researchers have conducted a number of studies comparing children on the display of withdrawn behaviors using observations, self‐reports, and other methods (e.g., Bowker & Raja, 2011; Xu & Farver, 2009). For example, Farver et al. (1995) observed children’s play behaviors in preschool settings and found that Korean American children engaged more in parallel and unoccupied play than European American children (see also Coplan, Ooi, & Hipson, Chapter 8). Chen et al. (1998) and Rubin et al. (2006) reported that toddlers in China and Korea displayed higher levels of behavioral inhibition than their counterparts in Australia, Canada, and Italy. In addition, numerous studies using self‐reports and peer‐nominations found similar patterns between East‐Asian children and Western children in shyness and related behaviors (e.g., Chen & Tse, 2008; Gartstein et al., 2006). Compared with self‐reports, peer evaluations may provide more objective information about children’s behaviors. However, this method often does not allow for cross‐cultural comparisons on group means because the scores are typically standardized within the group.

Findings from research on the display of withdrawn behaviors among children in different cultural groups help us recognize the role of culture in the development of social withdrawal. However, there is a concern about the potential misinterpretation of the cross‐cultural similarities and differences because the behaviors that children display in different cultures may not have the same meanings. Therefore, an important task is to investigate the meanings of withdrawn behaviors of children in different cultures.

Researchers have explored cultural meanings of children’s withdrawn behaviors in Australia, Canada, China, Korea, South Africa, the United States, and several other countries (e.g., Ding et al., 2015; Rubin et al., 1999; van Zyl et al., 2018). A common strategy to examine cultural meanings of withdrawn behaviors is to assess individual reactions to hypothetical vignettes describing withdrawn behaviors. Heinrichs et al. (2006), for example, showed undergraduate students several vignettes related to social withdrawal and asked them to make judgments about the demonstrated behaviors in the vignettes. Consistent with the hypothesis, participants in group‐oriented societies (Japan, Korea, and Spain) viewed withdrawn behaviors more acceptable than their counterparts in individualistic societies (Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States). Using a similar method, Schreier et al. (2010) found that youth in Latin America (Costa Rica and Ecuador) and East Asia rated withdrawn behaviors as more desirable than youth in the West. Bowker and colleagues (2016) studied Nigerian emerging adults’ perceptions of shy and unsociable behaviors through using vignettes. The participants did not show different attitudes toward sociable and withdrawn behaviors. Moreover, the participants viewed sociable behavior as having a greater negative social impact (e.g., students who act like this cause a problem in class) than shy and unsociable behaviors. The results may indicate a culturally unique understanding of sociable and withdrawn behaviors in Nigerian youth.

Rapee and colleagues (2011) asked participants to report their expected impact of withdrawn behaviors on the person’s social status and career. The participants rated how the person who displayed shy or outgoing behavior in the vignette would be liked among peers and how the behavior described in the vignette would affect the character's future career (future career options, success in future career, future relationships with colleagues and bosses). It was found that whereas youth in Western countries viewed shy behavior as clearly less desirable than outgoing behavior, youth in East Asia viewed them as less different.

Research on individual views and beliefs about social withdrawal using self‐reports provides useful information about its cultural meanings. However, self‐report methods suffer from widely recognized limitations, such as biases in self‐reports due to social desirability effects (e.g., people in hierarchically structured societies seem to display greater social desirability concerns than in egalitarian individualistic societies) and group‐reference effects (e.g., people in different cultural groups may use different referents in their self‐reports) (see Schneider et al., 2006; van de Vijver, 2015). Moreover, culture is believed to represent the belief and value system that is reflected at multiple institutional, group, and personal levels (e.g., Super & Harkness, 1986). Individual self‐reported views may not adequately and effectively capture cultural meanings beyond the personal level.

According to Hinde (1987), whereas social interactions and relationships play an important role in shaping individual development by providing an organizing context for children and adolescents to learn and display socially appropriate behaviors, the process of social interactions and the organization of social relationships are guided by cultural values and norms. This view is consistent with Vygotsky’s cultural‐historical theory (1978), which asserts that sociocultural conditions in the society are the foundation for learning and modification of mental processes and that social practices or activities of human beings are a primary mediator of cultural influence on individual development. Largely based on Hinde’s view (1987) and Vygotsky’s theory (1978), Chen and colleagues (e.g., Chen, 2012; Chen & French, 2008) propose a contextual‐developmental perspective focusing on the role of social interactions in linking cultural values and individual functioning. According to this perspective, adaptive and maladaptive behaviors need to be understood and examined in the context of social interactions and relationships and from a developmental point of view. Specifically, when children display behaviors in social interactions, adults and peers evaluate the behaviors according to cultural norms and values. At the same time, adults and peers respond to the behaviors by expressing their attitudes (e.g., acceptance, rejection) toward the children. Social evaluations and responses in interactions and attitudinal/emotional processes in relationships serve to regulate the development of the behaviors. Specifically, positive evaluations and responses may reinforce the behaviors, whereas negative evaluations place pressure on the children to control or modify the behaviors. Moreover, social approval and encouragement help children develop positive self‐regard and self‐feelings. In contrast, social disapproval and rejection may elicit anger and distress, especially if children are unable or unwilling to control the behaviors. The negative emotional reactions are likely to result in externalizing problems if they are directed toward others or internalizing problems if they are directed toward the self (Chen, 2020; Chen & Liu, 2016). In the section that follows, we discuss children’s shyness from the contextual‐developmental perspective.

It has been argued that as major socialization agents, parents and peers are crucial in “transmitting” cultural influence on children’s behaviors (Chen, 2012; Super & Harkness, 1986). Consistent with the argument, research findings have indicated that cultural values concerning socialization goals and practices may be reflected in parental and peers’ attitudes toward social withdrawal in children (e.g., Chen, 2018).