Kagan’s theory of behavioural inhibition

1. Evaluate Kagan’s theory of behavioural inhibition and its relevance to social anxiety and shyness for individual differences.

2. Define the main concepts within the theory of shyness and evaluate their relevance to individual differences.

3.  What are the main concepts within embarrassment? Evaluate the uniqueness of the theory in relation to shyness.

Theories of shyness and embarrassment raise fundamental questions about the self, social relationships and social interaction processes. Research continues to draw productively from a range of perspectives from personality theory and psychophysiology as well as social, clinical and developmental psychology.

Discuss whether there are too many theories of shyness and embarrassment.

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