Relationship between Family Communication Patterns and Shyness in Adolescent

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the dimensions of Family communication patterns (conversation orientation and conformity orientation) and adolescent's Shyness. The sample the study included 367 students, 232 girls and 135 boys, who were first and second high school students in the first region of Tehran, and they were selected through multistage cluster sampling method. The subjects filled in the revised family communication patterns scale (koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002) and Cheek and Buss Shyness scale (1981). Regression analysis was used to predict shyness by Dimensions of family communication patterns. Then, four kinds of families were extracted based on high and low scores on dimensions of family communication patterns and the adolescents’ shyness in these families was compared by using One-way ANOVA analysis. The results of regression analysis revealed that family conversation orientation had a negative and significant relationship with shyness and predicted it negatively and family conformity orientation had a positive and significant relationship with adolescent's shyness and predicted it positively. The results of the analysis of variance indicated a significant difference between these groups and showed that the children in consensual and pluralistic Families had less shyness than the children in protective and careless families. The findings of the present research showed that families with conversation orientation, who had free, comfortable and rich relationships as a need for joyful family life, raised children who are less shy in comparison with the children being raised in the families with conformity orientation